A mum has been accused of leaving her baby alone in her pram on the street so she can go into a bookies.
The woman was confronted outside the the Ladbrokes in Manor Park, London in footage which surfaced online on Thursday.
In the video, the mum is confronted by a man waiting outside the Ladbrokes branch where the child’s buggy remains unattended outside on the street.
As the mother exits the bookies, the man yells at her “Are you ok? Why are you leaving your child like this?”
The mum sheepishly returns to the pram and starts taking her child away.
But the man rages at her: “Are you alright in the head? If social services see you they’ll take your child away!”
As the man continues filming her, the woman takes one last look inside at the offers in the bookies.
At the sight of this, the man warns her: “This is not normal!”
The footage has enraged social media users – who have condemned the mum for leaving her child outside on the street so she can gamble in the Ladbrokes store.
One viewer wrote: “I wouldn’t even leave a bike like that and she’s leaving a baby”
Whilst another similarly commented “Common sense ain’t common. I bet she would never leave her phone outside but hey its only a kid smh”
Another individual commented: “Social services need to be looking at this.”
Whilst one viewer likewise said: “Call police cause some people don’t deserve to be parents [sic]”
Whilst another viewer remarked: “She’s gambling with LIFE”
The law does not say an age when you can leave a child on their own, but it’s an offence to leave a child alone if it places them at risk.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) says babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone.
