Wellington, Dec 13 (IANS): An Indian-origin man in New Zealand was sentenced to 12 months in prison and disqualified from driving for 12 months for abandoning a 11-month-old boy alone on the roadside after stealing a car.

Charanjit Singh, 31, appeared before Judge Philip Moran in the Invercargill District Court in New Zealand's South Island to face seven charges, six of which related to stealing a $58,000 Mazda CX9 car and one for abandoning the infant, the Otago Daily Times reported Friday.

The car was left with its keys in it by its owner outside a dairy in Balfour, a small town in the Southland Region of the island, while its owner bought lunch Nov 11.

Singh, who had been hitch-hiking, noticed the baby asleep in the back seat of the car he stole after driving a short distance.

He removed the child from his seat, placed him on the side of the Southland highway, got his backpack and drove off last month.

A truck driver, who was passing through, saw the boy on the roadside and returned him to his mother.

Police began chasing Singh but he failed to stop but was arrested a short while later.

Singh, who does not have a fixed abode, pleaded guilty to unlawfully taking the Mazda, theft of the complainant's $750 iPhone, failing to stop for police, abandoning a child, driving when forbidden and reckless driving.

Judge Moran said Singh had a history of mental health difficulties and a pre-sentence report said he was self-absorbed.

According to the report, he had three previous convictions for unlawfully taking cars and was sentenced in September to 40 hours' community work for frightening behaviour in a camping ground.