A pregnant mother who left her two step-children, aged four and six, at home alone while she went to Bali has been let off the hook by police in Western Australia.
The 28-year-old woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, was arrested by police at Perth International Airport in June when she returned from her two-day stint overseas to renew her visa.
Police alleged the woman claimed the children’s father was also overseas and blamed Australia Post for her the kids’ passports not being delivered in time to travel with her, reports The West Australian.
The woman was charged with child neglect offences but on Wednesday police dropped the charges after the matter was deemed not in the public interest to proceed.
Police prosecutor Neil Regan said authorities no longer held concerns for the welfare of the children, who are not Australian citizens, and the kids are due to be returned into the care of their family and leave Australia later this month.
The woman’s defence lawyer, Oliver Paxman called the decision to drop the charges “sensible”.
Paxman said: “It would have taken a number of months to conclude, possibly up to a year or more, and given this lady’s got two young children and is heavily pregnant with a third child, to keep her in Australia for the sole purpose of pursing the prosecution would have cost the government huge sums. We applaud the WA Police for making a sensible decision.”
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