By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Another adjournment for woman accused of leaving child in freezing car

Sep 7, 2017 | 3:43 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Despite concerns about delays in the case of two children who were left alone in a freezing car last December, another adjournment has been granted to one of the two women involved.

The woman – who cannot be named to protect the identity of the children – appeared in Lethbridge Provincial Court in person on Thursday (Sept. 7), as her lawyer asked for an adjournment to Sept. 28, noting that they are close to a resolution. The case was then set over.

During the last appearance on Aug. 24, the presiding judge shared his frustration with the fact that the matter had come up 16 times in court, without any real steps being taken.

The woman and her co-accused were charged late last year with failing to provide the necessaries of life.

Around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2016, Lethbridge Police responded to a report of a child crying inside a locked, shut-off vehicle that was parked along the 200 block of 5 Street South.

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Officers arrived to find a toddler in a car seat who was crying, shivering and in distress. When they broke a window to gain entry, they found a second young child under a pile of clothes. Both children – ages three and four – were taken to hospital as a precaution, but were uninjured.

At the time, police noted the temperature was -18 C.

After securing the children, police say they found a 31-year-old woman and a 24-year old-woman – who were determined to be the mothers of the children – inside a nearby bar. Using video surveillance provided by the bar, they found that the children had been left unattended in the vehicle for over an hour.

The co-accused appeared in court in July, and had her case set for trial Dec. 11 and 12, 2017.