A MAN was sick on a child after downing a bottle of vodka as he watched a film at a cinema.

Richard Kilpatrick swigged from the bottle as he watched a movie at the Showcase Cinema in Birstall.

The 37-year-old was looking after three children aged four to 12 at the time.

He then left the screening and staggered back into the wrong film - attempting to sit on a seat already occupied by a child before throwing up on another youngster.

The alcoholic said that he needed drink to give him courage to go out into social situations.

He was fined after pleading guilty to being dunk in charge of a child when he appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Alex Bozman said that on August 5 he took the three children to the Gelderd Road cinema and during the course of the film opened a small bottle of vodka and drank from it.

He told he Huddersfield court: “The defendant left the children during the film and returned to the wrong screening.

“He tried to sit in a chair already occupied by a child and then was sick on another child.

“Staff escorted him out of the cinema, became aware that he’d attended with children who were still in the cinema and police were called.”

The father of the oldest child in Kilpatrick’s care was contacted and arrangements were made for all of the children to be picked up, the Huddersfield court was told.

Kilpatrick said that he’d suffered from health problems for 20 years but was only diagnosed as an alcoholic in the last year.

Magistrates also heard that he suffered from anxiety and struggled to leave the house.

He said he couldn’t remember much of the incident but felt sick when police told him what had happened.

Sonia Kidd, mitigating, described the circumstances surrounding the offence as “incredibly sad.”

She told magistrates that he struggled to leave the house but wanted to do something nice for the children so decided to take them to the cinema.

Mrs Kidd added: “This is a simple activity for other people but a mountain for him to climb.

“He purchased the bottle of vodka to give him the strength to take them to the cinema.

“When they got to the cinema, he was struggling, surrounded by people and consumed the vodka.

“He needs alcohol to function to leave the address.

“He’s distraught in relation to his actions and has been punished when all he wanted was to do something nice for the children.”

Magistrates told Kilpatrick, of Cottingley Heights in Leeds, that the offence was serious and must have caused the children involved some shock.

They ordered him to pay £200 fine and £20 victim surcharge.