A number of case in recent years of parents leaving children at home to go on holiday has brought the issue of how old a child needs to be to be left home alone to national attention.
It may seem like common sense to consider the children first before booking a holiday or going out for a night on the town, but there are still parents who feel that it is ok to leave young children athome for several hours or even days.
There is general confusion amongst arising from the law not being particularly clear cut when it comes to leaving children home alone. A lot depends on how mature the children are with the obvious consideration; are children able to look after themselves.
One case in Gloucester recently saw two mothers arrested for leaving their children aged six and seven at home on their own for 12 hours while they went partying. This left the children in a great deal of distress and ended with the arrest and a six-month suspended sentence for the two mothers.
So while the law on leaving children at home on their own can be fuzzy, if distress is caused and it is found that children have been neglected, then parents will end up with a criminal record or risk having their children taken into care.