A man who abandoned an 11-month-old boy alone on the side of a Southland highway after stealing a car has been jailed for 12 months.
Charanjit Singh, 31, appeared today before Judge Philip Moran in the Invercargill District Court on seven charges. Six of the charges related to the incident on November 11 when he took a $58,000 Mazda CX9 car left with its keys in it outside a dairy in Balfour while its owner bought lunch.
Singh, who had been hitch-hiking, drove a short distance when he noticed the baby in the back asleep in his car seat. He removed the child from his seat, placed him on the side of the highway, got his backpack and drove off at speed.
A passing truck driver who saw the boy being placed on the side of the road returned him to his mother and police.
Police began chasing Singh in a marked patrol car but he failed to stop.