Huddersfield mum Lauren Booth walks free after her toddler son, neglected and thirsty, drank her poisonous cannabis food

Lauren Booth, 23, of Norris Close, Almondbury, Huddersfield, was found guilty in February of neglecting two-year-old Aaron, who died on November 6, 2010, after he drank from a bottle of pH Up plant food which he had probably mistaken for his favourite Fruit Shoot drink.

The potassium hydroxide chemical caused burns to his lips, tongue, oesophagus, stomach and spleen, and Judge Colin Burn said it would have been a “prolonged and frankly horrible death”.

He handed Booth, who laughed as she walked from Bradford Crown Court yesterday, a 12-month jail sentence, but suspended it for two years.

He told her: “It was a cataclysmic, single failure to act. Aaron was almost three, at an age where he was curious and everything was a challenge, therefore by failing to supervise him you allowed this terrible event to happen.

“I’m bound to say that Aaron’s death was a prolonged and frankly horrible one. There is no other way to describe it. And it was preventable.

“By simply moving it along the windowsill and forgetting about it and also by failing to get up in the morning to look after Aaron, knowing that the bottle was in the house, you acted in neglect.”

He told Booth, dressed in black trousers with a white shirt and black jumper, with her long dark hair tied up, that she shouldn’t have allowed the liquid to have been brought into the house.

“The evidence was that this liquid was used for growing cannabis,” Judge Burn said.

The trial heard how Aaron hadn’t been fed since the day before and was “hungry and thirsty” when he got hold of the bottle while searching for something to drink.

Unemployed Booth was in bed with her boyfriend at 12.45pm when the tragedy happened. She found her son with brown lips and struggling to breathe after he drank a 10ml dose.

The court heard police found a cluttered house, but Aaron’s room was “curiously empty”, with black curtains and an open window on a cold November night.

When Booth’s laptop was seized from the house in Huddersfield, police found that the user had downloaded a book called Cannabis Big Book of Buds, as well as Google searches for “how to use PH test for ganga”.

Booth had denied wilfully ill-treating or neglecting her son, who died in hospital 11 days after drinking the liquid.

Michelle Colborne QC, mitigating, said Booth, who has another child who is almost one, has been attending parenting classes voluntarily.

“She says she had to hit the bottom before appreciating what was required of her to have a proper decent life,” Miss Colborne told the court.

“We must consider that Aaron was a particularly needy child who she loved dearly. She will live with this for the rest of her life.”

Judge Burn told Booth that he was satisfied she didn’t pose a risk to her daughter, who is in foster care in Manchester, where Booth is allowed to visit.

He said: “No-one suggests that you ever set out to harm Aaron in any way, nor that you wished him harm. The pre-sentence report says you were a loving mother to Aaron and I accept that.

“The unfortunate aspect is that your poor judgement led to fatal consequences. I realise that you will always have to live with Aaron’s death long after any sentence from this court has been served. That is a very significant fact.

“Any sentence of imprisonment cannot bring back Aaron and you will know that, Miss Booth.”

Judge Burn told Booth that she would be under supervision for the period of her suspended sentence and would be assessed for any assistance she needed.

“I’m persuaded that you fully appreciate the real significance of your failure to act on this occasion,” he added.

“Therefore no further punishment is required to make this any clearer. You can put these criminal proceedings behind you even though, I dare say, the event, not.”