'Paris spider-man': Father of boy rescued from balcony handed three-month suspended sentence

The parent of a child rescued after it was spotted dangling from a balcony in Paris has been handed a three-month suspended sentence.

The 37-year-old father was charged with negligence on Tuesday by a court in the French capital and has also been ordered to attend parenting classes.

The four-year-old child was seen dangling from the fourth-floor of his apartment building in May.

He was rescued by Malian migrant Mamoudou Gassama who scaled the outside of the building to save him.

The child’s father said he had to leave the apartment building on May 27 to go and buy groceries however he failed to lock the sliding glass door to the balcony.

According to Deutsche Welle, the man said he was away longer than planned as he became distracted playing Pokemon Go.

The boy told police that he went onto the balcony because he thought his father had been gone for so long and wanted to follow him.

Video footage of the incident went viral online with Mr Gassama dubbed ‘Spider-Man’.

He was awarded French citizenship, a job with the Paris Fire Brigade and met with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Macron told him: “You saved a child. Without you, no one knows what would have become of him.”