Admonished after neglecting boy, 10

Awoman who left a 10 - year- old boy home alone when she was supposed to be looking after him has been admonished.

Shelley Forrester admitted exposing the boy to risk by leaving him on his own in a filthy house.

The 35-year-old was sentenced yesterday, less than two months after being allowed to walk free from court for endangering the life of another child.

Dundee Sheriff Court was told the boy had been wilfully neglected by Forrester at a house in Dundee on October 26 2019.

She admitted neglecting him in “a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health and did leave him alone within a house without adequate care and supervision and in unsanitary conditions”.

Solicitor David Duncan, defending, said Forrester was no longer in a position to pose any danger to the b o y, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Sheriff Jillian MartinBrown admonished Forrester af ter noting sentence had been deferred on her for more than a year and she had engaged with social workers.

Last November at the same court, Sheriff John Rafferty placed Forrester on a curfew for 120 days after she admitted drugging a young girl for several years.

Forrester was tagged after she admitted seriously endangering the girl by repeatedly dosing her with adult sleeping tablets.

Forrester, of Alloway Gardens, Dundee, admitted giving the young child the melatonin over a six-year period. She had not taken any medical advice and had been giving the child the tablets to keep her quiet while she was looking after her.

Fo r r e s t e r admitted culpably and recklessly administering prescription melatonin tablets to the child between January 2013 and October 2019.

The charge said Forrester had “complete disregard to the risk or side-effects and did place her in serious danger of injury”.

Fiscal depute Christine Allan told the court that the child had reported to social workers that she believed she was getting the tablets to stop her being hyperactive.

Sheriff Rafferty said: “This is a very serious matter. You placed the child at significant risk.

“You did so without knowing or having any regard to the extent of that risk. Even now I do not think you realise the gravity of the situation you are in. The sentence is a direct alternative to custody.”