A DRUNKEN mum who was deemed incapable of looking after her "distressed" two-year-old daughter has been fined after pleading guilty in court.

Vikki Louise Carter, of Robert Street, Barrow, admitted that she was "disgusted with herself" after she was arrested by police for being drunk while carrying her toddler in her arms in the early hours of Sunday December 18.

Mr Peter Kelly, prosecuting, told Furness Magistrates' Court on Tuesday that the defendant was spotted by a police officer at 4.50am in Harrison Street, Barrow.

According to the officer, Carter, who was holding her two-year-old tot and walking her Staffordshire bull terrier, was hardly able to stand up and was staggering on the pavement.

A male driver, who turned out to be her partner of 11 years and the father of the tot, then turned up to help a drunken Carter into the car as she flopped into the rear seat with her baby in tow.

The officer reported that the tot was screaming, crying and very distressed as it became clear that the defendant, who smelt strongly of alcohol, was incapable of looking after her child.

After being arrested, the defendant told police when interviewed that on the night before, the tot had gone to bed and she had started drinking wine.
She added that she quickly became drunk after not having a proper meal in five days as she stated that "everything was getting on top of her".

Her daughter woke up in the middle of the night and Carter was unable to get the toddler back to sleep as she relentlessly screamed for her father.

The 33-year-old therefore decided to take her daughter for a walk in the middle of the night with her Staffie - which was out of control at the time of the incident and further distressing the crying child.

Carter, who represented herself in court, vowed to sort out her issues for her daughter's sake and told magistrates that an incident like this would never happen again.

Presiding magistrate, Mr Ian Skillen, labelled the offence as "serious" and warned Carter that it could have carried a custodial sentence.

However, the bench opted to give her a fine of £120. She was also ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £30.

The child had been taken in by social services and, prior to her guilty plea, Carter was not allowed to have any unsupervised contact with a child under the age of 16, unless it had been approved by social services.

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