PA
Thieves dumped a six year-old boy in the freezing snow with no shes on after stealing his dad's car while he sat in the passenger seat.
The little boy was left "shivering and crying" by the side of the road, Walsall Magistrates' Court was told.
The boy's father faced a frantic few minutes when his car was stolen with his son inside. The boy was found by a family friend.
Paul Russell, 40, was jailed for 16 weeks after police found him driving the VW Passat shortly afterwards, while twice the legal drink-drive limit, the Daily Mail reports.
He claimed he had come across the car after it had been dumped and did not take it with the child inside.
Jason Corden-Bowen, prosecuting, said the boy's father was returning to his home in Darlaston, West Midlands, with his wife, 16-month-old daughter and six-year-old son at about 1.30am on Sunday after staying with his mother.
"He goes to the front door to let his wife in and she's holding the baby," he said.
He sees the car being pulled away and runs down the front garden. He calls the police very distressed because the six-year-old is in the passenger seat.
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Shortly afterwards, the family received a telephone call saying a family friend had found the child in a nearby street. He was returned "crying, but physically unhurt".
Just 20 minutes after the car was stolen, police saw it being driven in Wolverhampton Street in Willenhall, West Midlands, by Russell, and stopped him.
Breath tests revealed that he had an alcohol level of nearly twice the legal limit.
But Russell, from Bushbury, West Midlands, claimed he found the car abandoned in Scarborough Road in Walsall, near the victim's home, and took it to get to his mother's.
He admitted taking a vehicle without consent, drink-driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. No-one has been charged with the initial theft.
Russell was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison for each of the offences of driving while disqualified, taking a vehicle without consent and drink-driving, to run concurrently. He was also disqualified from driving for 30 months.
Can you imagine the horror of realising your child is in your stolen car?