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'Home Alone' Arrest Made Every Day - Report

'Home Alone' Arrest Made Every Day - Report

Every day a parent is arrested on suspicion of leaving one or more of their children at home alone, according to new research.

A study by the Press Association found 105 mothers and fathers faced criminal investigation for leaving youngsters unsupervised in the last three months of last year.

The cases involved children aged between just a few weeks old and 14 years old.

There is no law to specify at what age children can be left alone - but if they're placed at risk parents can be arrested and prosecuted for cruelty and neglect.

Figures provided by police forces in England and Wales following Freedom of Information (FoI) requests showed that 30 of those arrested were released without further action, 24 accepted a police caution and 19 were charged.

In other cases, investigations were ongoing or details of how suspects were dealt with were not available.

Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who has called on the Government to provide clarity over the issue, said it was difficult to comment on whether police actions covered by the FoI responses were reasonable without knowing the circumstances of individual cases but described the findings as "important research".

"Parents often get confused by what is happening," he said.

"The Government claims that the judgement as to whether it is right to leave a child home alone is made by the parents. However, in fact the judgement is made by the police and local council workers.

"Potentially, someone who leaves a baby in a car seat in a petrol station could face prosecution. Similarly, whereas an eight-year old can be sent to go swimming or to the park on their own, they are not allowed to stay at home (alone). There does need to be more clarity on this.

"This is where the state interfaces into ordinary life and people's lives can be massively disrupted merely for doing what they thought was right for their children."

Chris Cloke, head of child protection awareness at the NSPCC, said: "Children mature at different rates so it's vital we have a common sense approach that ensures flexibility for parents, as they are best-placed to know what is right for their child."