Australian woman jailed for plying son with alcohol

MELBOURNE - An Australian woman who plied her five-year-old son with drink was jailed Thursday, a media report said.

Kylie Eastwood, 36, appeared at a court in Latrobe city in eastern Victoria to be sentenced over the July 20, 2008, incident, the Herald Sun reported.

Eastwood will serve eight months for giving her son at least four units of liquor.

Judge Margaret Rizkalla said Eastwood would serve at least five months before she is eligible for parole.

Judge Rizkalla said the most recent relapse, in April of this year, where Eastwood became intoxicated and turned on the gas in her home while her eight-month-old baby was in the house was another incident that showed inappropriate care of her children.

The court Wednesday heard Eastwood cheered the boy on as he downed the alcohol in her kitchen.

Eastwood Wednesday pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her lawyer, John Verhoeven, argued she had not intended to cause physical harm to her son by allowing him to have some liquor.

But the court said Eastwood knew the effects of alcohol and knew the impact it would have on her son.

“It was clear that she herself had significant alcohol problems,” Judge Rizkalla said.

“She was aware of the effect of alcohol on herself and others. She was aware that a child was more vulnerable,” the judge said.