Toddler car death father avoids jail sentence
The father of a two-year old boy who was found dead in a car in southern Sweden, after being left alone for eight hours, has been handed a suspended sentence for manslaughter, avoiding both a fine and imprisonment.
"If all parties are in agreement on the punishment, then we choose this path because it costs much less and does not involve the courts," chief prosecutor Mats Svensson told the news agency TT.
"Put simply, you could say that the suspended sentence is a warning."
During police questioning, the father explained that he forgot to drop his son off at day care on May 7 and drove straight to work in the small town of Eslöv.
On returning to the parking place, eight hours later, the boy was still sitting the car.
Police arrived at the scene to find the boy unresponsive and his skin bluish in colour. They immediately began life-saving efforts but was unable to revive the toddler.
The boy's mother and day care staff were also questioned by police after the tragedy. There was no alert from day care when the boy did not show up that day.
"Normally, they call one of the parents, so we need to look at their routine and see if something didn't work as it should," Stephan Söderholm of the Lund police told the TT news agency.
"This is incredibly tragic for everyone involved."
TT/The Local/at
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"If all parties are in agreement on the punishment, then we choose this path because it costs much less and does not involve the courts," chief prosecutor Mats Svensson told the news agency TT.
"Put simply, you could say that the suspended sentence is a warning."
During police questioning, the father explained that he forgot to drop his son off at day care on May 7 and drove straight to work in the small town of Eslöv.
On returning to the parking place, eight hours later, the boy was still sitting the car.
Police arrived at the scene to find the boy unresponsive and his skin bluish in colour. They immediately began life-saving efforts but was unable to revive the toddler.
The boy's mother and day care staff were also questioned by police after the tragedy. There was no alert from day care when the boy did not show up that day.
"Normally, they call one of the parents, so we need to look at their routine and see if something didn't work as it should," Stephan Söderholm of the Lund police told the TT news agency.
"This is incredibly tragic for everyone involved."
TT/The Local/at
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