Man jailed for getting baby drunk

A BABYSITTER has been jailed for six months and fined €4,000 for giving alcohol to a baby to send it to sleep.

Jean-Pierre Saint Germain, from Brignoles, in the Var, was asked to look after 18-month-old Ziane for one night in January while his father took the mother to hospital.

When the father returned the following day, he found Ziane was dribbling, drifting in and out of consciousness and stank of pastis.

Doctors found the child had a blood-alcohol level of 1.96g per litre - the equivalent of four times the adult drink-driving limit.

Mr Saint Germain told the court that Ziane must have woken up in the middle of the night, climbed out of bed and helped himself to the alcohol in the kitchen.

But judges ruled that the 31-year-old babysitter, who had been trusted with the child before had got the baby drunk because its crying was distracting him from a computer game he was playing.

Prosecutor Marie-Laure Arnouil said Mr Saint Germain had "endangered a person's life" and shown a "lack of care and assistance".