A Sydney man who left his child sitting in a hot car while he gambled on the pokies has been fined and disqualified from driving.
The man was caring for his five-year-old son when he felt the itch and left the boy sitting in the car with the air con running and a water bottle while he visted the local pub.
The temperature outside the car reached 40degC as the boy waited for his father to return.
A parking attendant noticed the boy in the car after two hours, but rather than calling the authorities she gave the man a ticket for parking in a loading zone and moved on.
Thirty minutes later she realised the man was not coming back and called the police.
Appearing at the Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday morning the man seemed clearly ashamed, leaving the court building via a fire escape and hiding in a hotel car park for an hour.
However victims' advocate Howard Brown has no sympathy for him.
"Clearly he did not think this through, it is just pure stupidity to leave a child in a car," he told 7 News.
"We've seen this happen before where parents have left the vehicle unattended with the engine running, the vehicle's been stolen and police resources have been drained."
The man has been fined $4500 and disqualified from driving for 10 months for the offence.
Newshub.
