Henry Brifter didn't think he was the kind of person who would lock a baby in a car on a hot day.

"I was flabbergasted that I had actually caused this series of events," he says. The 45-year-old used his electronic key to open the double doors at the back of the family's Mini Cooper Clubman, after taking his two-year-old daughter, Melissa, to Clovelly for a lunchtime swim.

Henry Brifter said he couldn't believe it when he locked his daughter Melissa in the car with the keys, on a hot day. Credit:Nick Moir

"I put all the bags, and the baby, in the back, and my keys were in there as well," he remembers. "I closed the wagon then tried to get in the driver's door, but the entire car was locked."

With the temperature reaching 32 degrees, Henry waited 20 minutes for his wife, Sophie, to drive from Surry Hills with a spare set of keys.