A MOTHER from Radnorshire has been sentenced by a Spanish court for abandoning her daughter while she went to a bar, it has been revealed.
Alicia Jenkins, 42, from Builth Wells, was on holiday in Salou with her 11-year-old daughter when she left the child alone on a nearby beach.
The youngster was found by a British couple who were shocked that she had been left unsupervised in the busy seaside resort on the Costa Dorada.
When they took the girl to the bar, where her mother is reported to have been drinking for at least two hours, they were told to ‘f*** off and leave me alone’.
Police were called and the woman was arrested at the bar in the resort of Salou, 70 miles south of Barcelona.
Jenkins appeared before a magistrate in Tarragona on Tuesday, August 17. where she admitted the charge of child abandonment.
She was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. The court was told she has no previous convictions in Spain.
A spokeswoman for the regional Catalan police force, Mossos d'Esquadra, said: “A British woman was arrested on Sunday evening for abandoning her 11-year-old daughter while she went drinking in a bar.
“The girl was helped by a concerned British couple on the beach, but when they went to the bar to find the mother she started swearing at them and being abusive.
“She was very drunk. They took the girl back to the beach, and when the woman did not turn up some time later they took her to the hotel where the girl and her mother were staying.
“Hotel staff called the police and our officers went to the bar where the woman was detained.
“By that stage the girl had been out of her care for most of the afternoon. She was taken to a children's care home to be looked after.”
Under Spanish law, parents who abandon their children face jail sentences of 18 months to three years. If the child is believed to have been put in danger, it can be up to four years.
The British embassy in Spain commented: “We are aware of the arrest of a British national in Salou on August 15 and we have offered consular assistance.”
It is thought the child is still being cared for by Spanish social services.