A man who left his baby in a car while he drank alcohol and then fell asleep on a couch has been sentenced to intensive supervision and community work.
Matthew James Stewart, 42, appeared in the Napier District Court for sentencing yesterday after he left his 10-month-old son strapped in a car-seat for three hours on a hot summer's day last year.
Stewart would typically drop his son off at a local play centre before he went to work as a chef each day.
However, on November 11 last year he put the baby in his car, which was exposed to the afternoon sun and had its windows rolled up. He returned to his house.
He drank alcohol, said to be several beers and a small amount of vodka, and then had a lie-down on his couch.