Mother admits neglect of son, two, who died after taking her tablets

Sophie George called the emergency services on December 11, 2008 reporting her son, Ricardo Munio was having fits.

Within six minutes an ambulance crew with advanced emergency medical technicians arrived at her home and found her cradling her son as he began to fit again.

He was rushed to St James’s Hospital, Leeds but doctors could not save his life.

When asked if he could have ingested any drugs George said “No” but appeared unsure, Peter Moulson QC, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court yesterday.

Investigations revealed on December 6, 2002, she was prescribed anti-depressant medication Dothiepin, brand name Prothieden, in the form of two sheets of 14 75mg tablets.

After the death of her son police searched her home and found the empty drug box at the bottom of the bed in her elder son’s room. Later two empty blister packs were found in the bathroom.

Mr Moulson said the drug was intended to increase physical activity, improve appetite, elevate moods and restore interest in everyday activities. Taken at night it could encourage sleep.

But it could also cause dangerous heart rhythms, fits and comas if taken in excess and was not recommended for children.

Toxicological tests revealed Ricardo had taken at least four, possibly five tablets of Prothieden between two to four hours prior to his death.

Mr Moulson said traces in the little boy’s hair and fingernails showed he had previously a smaller quantity of the same drug several weeks prior to that, although there was no evidence to suggest his mother was aware of that.

George said she had thrown the tablets away but later accepted leaving them in a drawer in her bedroom. Her older son said he had messed around with them but never taken any.

Mr Moulson said the Crown accepted George had not administered the drug to Ricardo but was aware the medication could injure his health and had not kept them out of his reach.

“We say the defendant is guilty of wilful neglect on the basis of her reckless indifference to the whereabouts, and her care, of that medication.”

George, 34, of North Farm Road, Gipton, Leeds, admitted child neglect and was given a two-year community order with supervision and a condition of attending the Together Women Project.

Judge Kerry Macgill told her in some sections of society that might seem a lenient sentence but he had come to the conclusion she deserved sympathy.

“I take into account this is something all parents dread, their child getting access to something they shouldn’t, whether it be bleach under the kitchen sink or in this case tablets that should have been locked away.”

He said she came across as a complex personality, perhaps through grief, appearing of low IQ to some doctors but intelligent to the most recent psychiatrist to see her but she was now considered someone probation felt they could work with.

The court heard George was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK after seeking asylum from Burundi. She then had a relationship with the father of Ricardo, born in March 2006.

The judge commended the police team involved in the investigation. Detective Superintendent Steve Payne said: “This was a deeply upsetting case in which a two-year-old boy died from circumstances that were ultimately found to have been preventable.”

A serious case review is expected to be completed later this year. Jane Held chair of the Leeds Safeguarding Children Board said: “All agencies involved with the family are actively working with the LSCB to ensure a thorough and detailed review is completed to identify any lessons to be learnt.”