Woman accused of failing to look after baby due to being intoxicated

A Caithness woman is alleged to have been unable to look after a baby in her charge because she was heavily under the influence of drink or drugs, Wick Sheriff Court was told on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old is accused of wilfully neglecting the seven-month-old at a house in the county. They can't be named for legal reasons.

The charge accuses the woman of causing the baby unnecessary suffering on June 25 by allowing the child to wear multiple layers of clothing, leaving them in a potentially suffocating situation in a cot with loose covers and cushions while she was unable to intervene because she was so heavily intoxicated through drink or drugs that she needed to be hospitalised.

The householder at the the property was also said to be in no fit state to care for the youngster and failed to change their clothes and feed them.

The case was continued without plea to August 10 to allow the accused to consult a solicitor.