East Lothian mother exposed her two-year-old son to “high risk of death” when he ingested ketamine & cocaine

The two-year-old boy was rushed to hospital in Edinburgh by concerned police officers where medics found he had quantities of cocaine, ketamine and nicotine in his system.

Tests showed the child had been exposed to cocaine “within five to seven days of the sample being taken” that could have been ingested from “crack cocaine smoke” or “powder on a surface touched or licked”.

The tot was also regularly seen running along main roads totally naked and in his bare feet while he was supposed to be being looked after by the 37-year-old mother-of-two.

Police received numerous calls from neighbours and shopkeepers who had seen the child out on his own in streets in Musselburgh and Haddington, East Lothian between April and October 2023.

The mum was eventually arrested and charged with neglecting the child and causing him unnecessary suffering or injury to health by exposing him to drug misuse, all to the danger of his life. She pleaded guilty to the charge during a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court earlier this year and was back in the dock for sentencing on Thursday, June 12.

Solicitor Kirsty Harper said her client’s health had improved significantly following engagement with the social work department and her young son has recently been returned to her care following a spell with foster parents.

Ms Harper said the unemployed woman has found “stability in her life” following the death of her partner and father of the child.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court (Photo: TSPL)

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Sheriff Derek O’Carroll imposed an alternative to a custodial sentence where the woman will be supervised for the maximum term of three years. She will also have to wear an electronic tag and stay within her home between 8pm and 7am for the next five months and engage with services when required to do so.

Previously the court was told the woman and her partner had looked after the child at a home in Musselburgh before the couple moved to Haddington, all between April 26 and October 9, 2023.

The court heard police had been contacted on several occasions by concerned locals and shop workers who had seen the child out in the street on his own with no clothes on.

One occasion saw officers attend at the family’s flat to find the mother and her partner asleep and the front door wide open in April 2023. A follow-up visit the same day saw officers report that the flat was in “slight disarray” and the woman was “found to be extremely drowsy and unsteady in her feet” after consuming “a quantity of Zoplicone tablets”.

The court was told the boy was seen by a member of the public to be “running along the street with no clothes on and no-one appearing to be looking for him” at around 3.50pm on July 10, 2023. The woman said she was “forced to chase after” the child and after catching up with him she took the boy into her care and contacted police.

A further incident saw police officers discover the boy alone in a property in Wallyford, East Lothian, on October 9, 2023. The child was said to be “unresponsive” when officers found him and he was wearing “dirty wet clothing”.

The court heard there were “unidentified white pills” in the same room along with “spoons covered in white powder in easy reach” of the child, and he was taken to hospital.

A medical report stated: ‘Urine tests for toxins were carried out and a positive result was returned for ketamine, cocaine and nicotine and their metabolites. Ketamine ingestion is the most likely reason for [the child’s] presentation to hospital with reduced conscious level.

“[The child] was found alone by police with a partially obstructed airway, reduced conscious level and low body temperature. This incident carried a high risk of death and could have been fatal had he not been found and brought promptly to hospital.”