THE parents of a toddler have admitted been drunk in charge of their child after several people phoned police raising concerns following the incident, which happened in March.

The mother and father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, both admitted the same charge when they appeared separately at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, October 26.

The 27-year-old mother and 35-year-old father, were found drunk in the Market Street area of Builth Wells at around 7.30pm on March 26, while the child was in their custody.

Wednesday’s hearing was told that the two defendants had been drinking at the White Horse pub, and that police had received a number of calls from members of the public concerning an “intoxicated female with a baby”, who was 16 months old at the time.

Prosecutor Stephen Davies said: “PC Jones attended the scene, on the high street in Builth. Officers searched for and located the mother, they believed she was intoxicated. The baby had a soiled nappy and was dirty.

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“They went to the defendant’s address. The child was crying, sat in the lap of the defendant who was sat cross legged; she had an unlit cigarette in her hand. The baby looked unkept.

“The defendant said she had drunk around four or five vodka cokes, she said she could still look after her baby, but it didn’t appear so to police.”

Mr Davies said police obtained CCTV footage from the White Horse which showed both defendants with the child, which was seen wandering off on a couple of occasions.

“The female defendant appeared unsteady on her feet,” said Mr Davies.

“On the CCTV she could be seen being escorted up an alleyway by a male and female, she appeared drunk. She was pushing a pram and not in a particularly safe way.”

Acting for the mother, Owain Jones, said: “The family unit are doing well but you may want to satisfy yourself of that with reports.

“She has entered a guilty plea and credit is due but I’ll refrain from saying much until a later date.”

Acting for the father, Paul Lewis said: “My client’s culpability is less than the co-accused.”

Magistrates said they would adjourn the cases against both defendants so that a report can be prepared. They adjourned the case to December 7, when both defendants will return to court to be sentenced.