MAN DODGES JAIL AFTER DRUNKENLY NEGLECTING TODDLER IN PUBLIC
A man has narrowly avoided jail after admitting being too drunk to care for a toddler.Luke Rippingale, age 41, was seen staggering around a Hollywood Bowl with a pint in his hand - while a two-year-old child in his care was left crying on the floor without a nappy.
The defendant was arrested at the venue after staff became worried about his behavior.
The venue’s manager called the police, and both Rippingale and the child were taken into custody.
He pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge of a child, following the incident on August 20.
All options, including jail, were being considered, and he returned to court for sentencing.
Magistrates imposed a one-year community order, and he will undergo alcohol abstinence monitoring until March 4, 2024.
Additionally, he was sentenced to 15 days of rehabilitation, ordered to pay a £230 fine, £105 costs, and a victim surcharge of £114.
The prosecutor Nicola Lamb described the incident: “He was staggering around and dribbling, and he had left the child on the floor.
He beckoned the child to him but she refused to leave and was upset.
The manager was so concerned that they called the police, who took both him and the child into custody.” The court was told that Rippingale, from Ely in Cambridgeshire, was so intoxicated that he had been refused entry to the Queen of Iceni pub.
He had been returning from visiting a friend in Great Yarmouth when he chose to continue drinking while waiting for a connecting train, instead of waiting at the station.
As the prosecutor stated, “Very foolishly he had not waited at the train station.” Magistrates ordered a pre-sentence review, stating that all options, including custody, were open, as the charges carried the possibility of one month’s imprisonment.
Rippingale had been on unconditional bail prior to sentencing.
