A woman who left her baby locked in a car in Victoria Ave overnight didn't know the child was in the vehicle, a court has heard.
She received an 18 month prison sentence on Thursday for neglecting the child by leaving it in the car, though she was not the one who put it in the car.
Defence lawyer Peter Brosnahan told Judge Jim Large at the Palmerston North District Court a witness had already claimed responsibility for putting the one-year-old baby in the car.
"She personally didn't know that child was in the car when she was taken away," he said.
The woman, who has name suppression to protect the identity of the child, pleaded guilty in the Whanganui District Court earlier this year to a charge of neglecting a child.