Gasparillo mom to be tried for child neglect

A MOTHER from Gasparillo was committed on Monday in the San Fernando magistrates' court.

She will stand trial in the High Court for neglecting her two young children.

Candace Dieal, 38, of Caratal Village, was taken into custody after senior magistrate Jo-Anne Connor made the order. Connor told the mother that the police had made out a case with sufficient evidence for a judge and jury to consider a finding of guilt.

The police final witness, PC Adrian Sotio, testified on Monday, he having been arrested on Friday on a warrant for failing to attend court as a witness in the inquiry. Connor had granted him $2,000 bail and ordered him to attend court on Monday, after he explained he had been injured.

Connor had been adjudicating in the inquiry into two charges against Dieal, that on December 14, she left the children in the night inside the house and went away. The police were called and officers found the children, a boy aged ten and his sister, three, asleep in a room. The Child Protection Unit based in Oropouche was notified and officers took the children away.

The charges stemmed from allegations that Dieal turned up at the Gasparillo Police station, where she was questioned about wilfully neglecting the children.

Police prosecutor Cleyon Seedan called WPCs Nicole St John (Child Protection Unit), Leslie Ann Halls of the Gasparillo Police Station and Dieal's neighbour Alwyn Williams to testify. On Monday, Seedan led evidence from Sotio, who was cross-examined by Dieal's attorney.

Connor then told Dieal she was committed to stand trial.

Dieal, who is on bail, told the magistrate she did not wish to give evidence or call witnesses. She also said she did not have an alibi.

Connor readjusted her bail to $30,000 or a cash deposit of $5,000.

Police escorted Dieal from the witness box into the holding bay. If her bail is not posted, Dieal will be kept at the women's prison.