Mother jailed for getting five-year-old drunk

An Australian mother has been sentenced to eight months in jail for giving her five-year-old son alcohol shots and cheering him on as he drank them.

Kylie Eastwood, 36, gave her son at least four shots of homemade grappa, the Herald Sun newspaper reported Thursday.

The boy's father told the court Eastwood returned home from a friend's house with the grappa — a grape-based brandy — on July 20, 2008, and encouraged the boy to drink it.

"I walked into the kitchen and saw my son with a shot glass to his lips," the dad told the court.

Police discovered the grappa was 44% alcohol. The son had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.09. In Australia, people are considered too drunk to drive when they have a reading of 0.05.

Eastwood pleaded not guilty, saying she didn't mean to harm her son, but Judge Margaret Rizkalla said Eastwood knew what effects alcohol would have on the boy.

cnews.canoe.ca