A heroin addict mother has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the manslaughter of her severely asthmatic 7-year-old son, who died alone and "gasping for air" after she used his inhaler as a makeshift pipe to smoke crack.
The 40-year-old mother, Laura Heath, formerly of Long Acre in Nechells, Birmingham, England, was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter for the "needless, premature" of her son Hakeem Hussain.
The child’s "freezing" body was found clutching a leaf in the garden outside the home of a friend where they had been staying on Nov. 26, 2017, Coventry Crown Court heard during Heath’s trial.
Hussain died after suffering a severe asthma attack while his mother used foil and an elastic band to turn one of his blue inhalers into a pipe to smoke heroin and crack cocaine, reports said.
Passing sentence on Heath, Mr. Justice Dove said the boy’s death was the result of her "catastrophic and deplorable" parenting.
The judge said Hakeem’s death had occurred after Heath’s life "entered a drug-fuelled downward spiral into squalor, chaos and tragedy".
"When Hakeem Hussain died in the early hours of the morning he was only seven years old," the judge told Heath as she stood apathetically in the Coventry Crown Court.
"You betrayed the trust of all children who have to place their trust in their parents to do the best for them and you catastrophically failed to act as a responsible mother."
The judge described Hakeem as "bubbly and full of life with brilliant communication skills".
"It is clear that in his tragically short life he had been an inspiration of happiness and affection for people who knew him."
"All of that potential for a wonderful and fulfilling life was cut short, extinguished as he collapsed on his own suffocating, clutching a leaf in the garden."
"The truth is that Hakeem died as a result of your deplorable negligence. You had allowed your life to be completely overtaken by your addiction to heroin and cocaine. His death was needless, tragic and a result of your abject failure as his mother."
"All of these offenses were committed while you were under the influence or indeed in the thrall of drugs, in particular, heroin and crack cocaine."
"Your addiction no doubt led to you prioritizing your drug use over almost everything else in your life. You should have followed Hakeem's advice and stopped taking drugs. You didn't."
After Heath found Hakeem dead, she called 999 to report his death. The audio of that call was played to the court during the trial.
"He's dead... my son* he's took himself outside when we're asleep because he's got asthma* and he's fell asleep* he's dead. He's gone... he's blue and he's stiff. There's no saving him. He's gone. He's my baby... he's my baby," she said.
The court heard Heath had smoked heroin and crack cocaine in the 48 hours prior to Hakeem’s death and that the child also had tobacco in his lungs.
"In my opinion, she knew the previous night that Hakeem's asthma was not under control," Dr. Peter Ehrhardt, a former doctor of safeguarding in East Lancashire, told the court, giving evidence.
"Had she acted then in my opinion his deterioration would have been less severe and he would not have died."
On Apr. 28, 2022, a jury including 10 women and two men found Heath guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence. She was jailed for 20 years.
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