A Whanganui mother has appeared in court after she allegedly left her 1-year-old child locked in a car in a public place overnight.
The 30-year-old woman appeared in the Whanganui District Court this morning, charged with neglect.
It is alleged the woman was found beside the locked car, intoxicated. Police took her away to prevent her driving, but it is claimed she did not tell them the baby was in the vehicle.
The child is not said to have been harmed by the alleged incident.
The woman has further been charged with leaving a child under 14 without supervision on January 15. Additional charges were also laid this morning of supplying methamphetamine, selling cannabis to three people and driving while suspended.
Anna Brosnahan appeared as the woman's lawyer and said Peter Brosnahan has been assigned to the case.
Judge David Cameron remanded the accused in custody until January 26.
A charging document stated the woman failed to provide the necessities of life by leaving the child "in a vehicle untended overnight in a public place" and said this was "a major departure from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person".