(Trinidad Express) A woman six months pregnant with twins denied yesterday that she had neglected her five children or brought harm to them when she left them home alone a year ago.
Defendant Kezi Doughty, 33 of King’s Wharf, San Fernando told the court she left her children asleep and went to the nearby sea to bathe with one of her sons.
She testified in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court that the bottom half of the door to the house was closed, and she was a mere half mile away.
But police prosecutor Sgt Russell Ramoutar told Doughty, a mother of nine, that she was an unfit mother.
He said apart from leaving her children alone, she also had her house in such a state that it was dangerous to the children’s health.
Doughty had in her care children ages eight, seven, three, two and six months old.
She was charged with being a parent in charge of five children, and wilfully abandoning them to cause injury to their health.
Doughty testified that following her arrest, she was only able to see her five children eight months later. The other children did not live with her.
Two police officers testified in the case. The officers said they went to Doughty’s home after they saw two of the children, the two- and three-year-old, standing alone on the roadside. They met a seven-year-old and a six-month-old asleep in the house.
Defence attorney Ainsley Lucky said that potential harm was not foreseen by his client when she left the house.
When charged last June, Doughty was sent to St Ann’s Hospital for evaluation. She was found to be fit to face trial.
Magistrate Alicia Chankar is expected to give her decision in the case on June 28.
Doughty told the court yesterday that she is due to deliver twins in September.
