Lethbridge moms accused of going to bar while kids locked in freezing car heading to trial

Two Lethbridge mothers accused of leaving their young children locked in a car in -18 C weather so they could go drinking are heading to trial.

A lawyer for the women who CBC News has decided not to identify in order to protect their children says he had hoped to resolve the matter.

• Young children left in cold vehicle as mothers went to bar, Lethbridge police say

Brian Brown appeared in Lethbridge court on Monday and says the women have now elected to have their case tried in provincial court.

In December, a three-year-old girl and four-year-old boy were left alone in a vehicle during a cold snap as their mothers went inside a bar for over an hour, police said at the time of the arrests.

Police broke windows

Police responded to a report of a child crying inside a locked vehicle parked along the 200 block of FifthStreet south around 11:30 p.m. The car was not running.

One of the children was found under a pile of clothes, the other was in distress, police said at the time. Officers broke a window to rescue the kids.

The mothers a 31-year-old woman and her 24-year-old niece were found in a bar called Studio 54. Video surveillance provided by the bar showed the women had been insidefor more thanan hour, police said at the time.

Atrial date will likely be set at the women's next court appearance later this month.

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