Police say they will not investigate
the case of a baby being left alone in a supermarket carpark while the mother
went shopping.
The baby was spotted by other
shoppers at the Porirua Pak'n Save about 9am on Saturday. The baby was in a
capsule with a note on its blanket which said its mother was shopping and to
call a mobile number if there were any issues.
The incident had not been
reported to police and no one had come forward with information so it would not
be investigated at this stage, said national police spokeswoman Annie Coughlan.
"We don't know who the people are, we don't know the phone number, we
don't know where to start. We would launch an investigation if we could but at
this stage no one's come forward," she said.
A parent can be fined for
leaving a child alone, but Senior Sergeant Justin Rakena of Porirua police said
earlier today that if a formal complaint was made it was unlikely to result in
criminal charges against the mother. He said it was dangerous for parents to
leave their children in the car, although in many cases there was an
"innocent" explanation, and the best solution was support for the
parents from Child, Youth and Family.
"[Incidences like this]
need to be taken on their merits and often it's a mum that's run into a shop,
for example, and is only away for five minutes," Mr Rakena said. "Absolutely
[it should be reported to police], but it doesn't mean to say we'd prosecute. I
would suggest the majority of people in that situation aren't prosecuted."
The man who spotted the baby on
Saturday when he and his family parked in the neighbouring space said he was
shocked to see the hand-written note resting on the child's blanket. "It
was written from the baby's perspective, and it said, 'My mum's in doing the
shopping, call her if I need anything', and it had the cellphone number. We
waited there for a little bit, wondering if the mum was just going to be two
seconds and come back. And my wife said, 'I'm not going in without someone
being here with the baby'."
Eventually another two
passers-by waited by the car, with one of them phoning the mother and telling
her to come outside. "We had gone in [to Pak'nSave] before the mother had
come out because we had a baby ourselves that was in a hurry." The man
said the baby looked well cared for.
Plunket national child safety
adviser Sue Campbell said the risks of leaving a baby or young child alone in a
car were significant. "Babies can dehydrate quickly and become very
distressed. So for a newborn that's one of the key issues. Plus there's a
security issue - a small baby is unable to defend itself if need be, or call
for help, or anything like that." Ms Campbell said the circumstances of
the mother were not clear, and caring for a baby could be overwhelming,
especially for those without ready family support.
Question 1: (2
points) Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE and write
down which part of the text justifies your answer.
a) Police
has very little information about the incident.
b) The
child’s mother will be convicted.
c) Some
people phoned the mother.
d) Although
some people found the baby, they left it alone.
Question 2: (2 points) Answer the following
questions in your own words.
a) Are
people permissive with this situation?
b) What
are the risks of leaving a baby alone?
Question 3: (1,5
points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words
and definitions given.
a) Start,
initiate (paragraph 3)
b) Assistance
(paragraph 4)
c) Sue
(paragraph 5)
Question 4:
(1,5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) We
would launch an investigation if someone came forward.
Unless...
b) My
wife said: “I’m not going in without someone being here with the baby”
My wife told ...
c) Incidents
like his need to be taken on their merits.
We...
Question 5: (3 points) Write a short essay (120 –
150 words) on the following topic:
Do you think this mother should be
punished? Why? Why not?
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