‘No shame!’ - Mother abandons children for 11 days

A 23-year-old mother, already facing a charge for child neglect, left her two young children - ages four and two - in the care of a neighbour under shocking circumstances and disappeared for 11 days.

The mother, whose name is being withheld to protect the children's identity, appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court before Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell, a figure she knows all too well after facing similar charges just weeks earlier.

According to the prosecutor, the mother left the children with the complainant on November 8 under less-than-ideal conditions.

"The accused left her children with them not wearing certain undergarments nor having any change of clothes," the prosecutor said when the matter was mentioned on Monday. "On that evening, the accused never returned for the children."

The court heard that the young mother was charged on October 21 for a similar offence.

"She is on bail, just to be sentenced in January," an investigator shared with Judge Burrell.

The judge minced no words in expressing her disappointment. "This is one mother who has failed, and she also has no shame," Judge Burrell remarked.

The court learned that the woman's two children are now in the care of their father, a move that Judge Burrell seemed to welcome as she issued a stinging rebuke to the young mother.

"I don't know what out a road that taking you from the children, and I don't want you to come back with baby number three," she said firmly.

Acknowledging the festive season and the risky behaviours that often come with it, Judge Burrell added, "This is the season of festivities and careless behaviour. I need you to get some quiet time so you can reflect on the choices you make as a mother. I need to give you some time away from the children for you to consider how privileged you are to have been blessed at the ripe young age of 23 with two children," Burrell said.

The mother has been remanded in custody until January 21, 2025, when the matter will again be mentioned.