Omagh woman left kids alone at home to go on a night out

AN Omagh mother-of-two has been placed on probation after abandoning her children on St Patrick’s Day to go on a night out.

The woman appeared before Omagh Magistrates Court this week, where she was sentenced for two counts of child cruelty. The court heard that on March 17, 2023, a member of the public reported seeing a four-year-old boy crying outside in his pyjamas.

The child was found at a neighbour’s house and told them he ‘couldn’t find his mummy’.

Police attended the home and found both the four-year-old and a two-year-old child inside. Officers noted food remnants beside the toddler’s bed.

Atter being phoned by police, the defendant, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the children, returned to the house in an intoxicated state and claimed the children had been left in the care of another woman.

However, when contacted, the woman denied this and urged the defendant to ‘tell police the truth’.

CCTV evidence showed the mother entering a nightclub at 10pm and leaving shortly after midnight.

She later admitted the offences, claiming she left the children at home because was ‘pressured to go out’ by a friend.

Defence solicitor Michael Fahy said the defendant made a ‘reckless and immature’ decision and is now paying a ‘heavy price’.

He confirmed the children are now in the care of relatives.

District Judge Ted Magill described the incident as a ‘complete and utter dereliction’ of parental duty.

He said the mother ‘couldn’t have known’ if her child – who has a medical condition – might have taken ill that night.

Taking into account her early guilty plea and lack of prior convictions, Judge Magill imposed a two-year probation order. The conditions include behaviour monitoring, victim awareness work, and engagement in programmes of work or study.