An Angus mum has admitted a charge of wilful neglect after leaving three children under the age of nine alone while she went to the shops.
The 31-year-old, who cannot be named, appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court on Tuesday, where she admitted a charge of contravening the Children and Young Persons Act.
She pleaded guilty to wilfully abandoning the children at a flat in Forfar last July in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering by leaving them without adult supervision.
A narrative presented to the court indicated that police received an anonymous tip-off on a Saturday afternoon that the children had been left alone.
Police followed up the report but when they went to the property, the youngsters were nowhere to be seen.
Around the same time they saw the accused elsewhere in the town, who did not appear to be in a hurry to return to the property.
When they knocked on the door of the house, two of the youngsters answered.
The youngest child was unclothed and wet and they gave the officers the explanation that they had been painting and got in a mess.
The children said they had been left there by the accused.
The woman returned around an hour after the initial report was made.
She appeared to officers to be under the influence of an unknown substance.
The accused told police that she had taken only prescribed medication and had not consumed any alcohol.
Sheriff Gregor Murray continued the case until February 19 for the preparation of a criminal justice social work report.