Toddler ‘killed by poison used for his mum’s cannabis’

A TODDLER died after drinking a poisonous substance his mother was using to grow cannabis, a court heard.

Aaron Booth, two, had not been fed since the day before and was hungry and thirsty when he got hold of the bottle when looking for a drink.

His mother, Lauren Booth, 24, was allegedly growing the drug in her home in Norris Close, Almondbury, Huddersfield, and the court heard she was asleep when Aaron drank the pH Up, used to treat water used in hydroponic gardening, just after midday.

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Booth, who went to bed at around 6am that day, denies wilfully ill-treating or neglecting her son.

Thomas Storey, prosecuting, told Bradford Crown Court information on a notebook and laptop seized from the house, as well as Booth’s comments to Aaron’s father while their son was in hospital, showed the substance was being used for growing cannabis.

Aaron died 11 days later in hospital after his windpipe disintegrated. He had suffered several other injuries, including burns to his stomach, pancreas and spleen.

The court heard that Booth and her partner were awoken by a loud thud at 12.40pm on November 6 2010, to find Aaron lying down with a brown mouth and lips.

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Booth’s partner raced across the road to borrow a telephone to call the emergency services.

By the time paramedics arrived, Aaron’s mouth and lips were purple and he was foaming at the mouth.

The court heard Aaron’s father, Mohammed Khan, did not know his son was in hospital until November 14, after a friend told him.

That day he went to the hospital where Booth seemed more concerned about having to move her cannabis plants than her son’s condition, according to the prosecutor.

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Mr Storey said: “She told him that she and her partner had been trying to make some money by growing skunk in the house, almost seeming annoyed by the involvement of the police because they were going to have to find somewhere else to grow the skunk, seemingly not bothered about her son.”

The pH Up could have been mistaken by Aaron for the soft drink Fruit Shoot, said Mr Storey. But it contained a highly toxic concentration of potassium hydroxide, or caustic potash, and two teaspoons would been a fatal dose.

Mr Storey said: “The cultivation of cannabis also explains the presence in the house of that liquid pH Up.”

The case continues.

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