A mum who left her son to wander out into the street as she slept off a drinking session insists she is not a bad mother.

Speaking at her Strood home she said: “I have not drunk a drop of alcohol since then”.

The two-year-old boy, barefoot and wearing just a vest, was rescued by a motorist. When neighbours attempted to wake his mother, she grabbed the child and slammed the door.

The woman appeared in court earlier this week after being charged with neglect and was warned that she faced losing the child if she failed to curb her behaviour.

She said later: “I am very sorry. I have been working hard to be the best mum I can since it happened and I am not a bad mum. I really have learnt my lesson.”

The woman, 31, was asleep in her home when the child walked out of her house through the front door and wandered out into the road.

He was wearing just a vest and was without any shoes or a nappy and had excrement in his hair.

When the police were called the mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed she thought her partner was looking after the child, Medway magistrates heard.

A neighbour who was driving away from his home as the toddler wandered along the road had to slam on his brakes to avoid him.

The concerned driver got out of his vehicle and, seeing the mother’s front door was wide open, took him to the house.

As he peered in he could see the place was untidy and called out for the boy’s mother, but got no reply.

He told the infant to sit on the step while he went to call police. As he was doing so, another neighbour noticed what was happening and also went to the house to see if she could help.

She entered the property and called out four times to see if anyone was inside and eventually the mother peered over the banister after getting from her bed.

The woman grabbed the child and then slammed the door in her neighbours’ faces.

When the police arrived they could smell alcohol on her, but she denied she had been drinking heavily and told officers she had only had one beer that morning in September last year.

Officers found the home to be in an untidy state and lighters and even knives had been left lying around, the court heard.

The mother was charged with neglect and appeared before magistrates in December when she admitted the charge against her.

At the sentencing hearing this week, Debbie Jones, prosecuting, told the bench the mother had not been in trouble before.

"We are absolutely appalled by this behaviour... the fact the child was found wandering in the street, was free to run around in the road with no clothes on and almost got run over" - Leslie Watson

Wayne Crowhurst, defending, said his client thought someone else was looking after the child while she slept and that she just woke up when the neighbours shouted up the stairs for her.

Social services have became involved following the case and the boy’s grandmother currently had responsibilty for his care.

Chairman of the bench, Leslie Watson, said: “We are absolutely appalled by this behaviour when there were lighters and knives in the house. And the fact the child was found wandering in the street, was free to run around in the road with no clothes on and almost got run over.

“You will have him taken away from you if you don’t stop this behaviour.
“You look after that child, it’s all down to you, that child depends on you.”

Magistrates gave the mother a 12-month community order which will see her working with probation to get the help she needs. She was also ordered to pay £85 court costs.

As she was sentenced, the mother said: “I’ve learnt my lesson.”

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