An Illawarra mother who left her children home alone in a house that later caught fire while she went to visit her new boyfriend in a neighbouring suburb has sobbed in court after being sentenced to six months behind bars.
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The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to provide for a child causing danger of serious injury, admitting she had put the lives of each child at risk with her selfish decision.
Court documents said the woman left her 12-year-old daughter in charge of her toddler and four-month old baby boy from about 9pm on March 2, with the intention of not returning to the house until 6am on Monday.- some 33 hours later.
The older daughter's attempts to cook her siblings dinner went awry about two hours after her mother left and resulted in a fire breaking out inside the home's kitchen.
The smoke alarms were activated just before 2am and woke neighbours, who went to the children's aid.
All three were safely removed from the house but had black soot marks visible around their mouths and noses. Police repeatedly attempted to contact the mother but to no avail.
When she turned up at Wollongong Hospital several hours later, the 37-year-old said her phone battery had gone flat and she'd only received their messages after charging it.
The woman was supported in court on Tuesday by her eldest daughter, who began to cry and fiercely hugged her mother when it became apparent she was headed for jail.
Defence lawyer Graeme Morrison revealed the woman had had a troubled and unstable upbringing that included persistent sexual abuse by an uncle - from which she eventually fell pregnant.
"With her history it's a wonder she's still here," he said.
The court heard the woman's life spiralled and she'd become involved with bikie gangs and drugs as a result of the abuse and had extensive criminal records in four states, mainly for matters of dishonesty.
Despite her history, Mr Morrison asked the court to consider sparing the woman full-time jail, saying she was trying to turn her life around.
However, Magistrate Roger Clisdell sentenced the woman to 20 months' jail, with a non-parole period of 6 months, saying no other penalty was appropriate given her "selfish" actions.
"In what can only be described as for outrageously selfish reasons, she left her kids alone in the house and went off with her new boyfriends for 48hrs," he said.
The woman sobbed as she was led from the court by prison staff.
She will be released on parole in April next year.