A father who allegedly left his four-year-old son in a car at a Brisbane shopping centre during a heatwave will fight the charge.
The man, 37, appeared briefly in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with one count of leaving a child under 12 unattended, and pleaded not guilty.
Police say a woman found the child asleep inside a vehicle at the underground car park at New Farm, in inner city Brisbane, about 1.30pm on Sunday as temperatures were reaching the mid-30s.
The boy was allegedly rescued via an unlocked door and taken to the Lady Cilento Hospital as a precaution.
The accused, who faced court holding a pair of child's shoes belonging to a young boy sitting in the back of the court, asked for the trial to be expedited so he could "get back to Canada to my other children".
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The matter will be mentioned again on February 22 and the man remains on bail.
