Mum left baby, one, to die in 27C with fractured skull while she got car cleaned
A young mum has been jailed after she left her baby suffering a skull fracture in a hot and unventilated room while she went shopping.
A court heard how Stacey Davis, 35, left her one-year-old son Ethan alone in his cot for two hours while she ran errands, visited a park and had her car washed.
Even when she returned home on June 27, 2018, with temperatures in the region of 27C, she failed to check on the child for at least another 30 minutes.
READ MORE: 'Fake doctor' had been working in a hospital for a year before being rumbled
It was only after she had been home for around half an hour, chatting with a friend via text, that she decided to check on the tot.
When Davis went into the boy's hot, airless bedroom, she discovered him lifeless and unresponsive in his cot.
He was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
Prosecutor Simon Jones told the court a post-mortem examination found a significant head injury – a 15cm skull fracture – but Ethan's cause of death remains undetermined.
Under questioning, Davis told police her son had fallen out of a door and hit his head – and despite his swelling, bruising and obvious distress, didn't take him to hospital.
"Any reasonable parent would have noticed the distress and sought medical attention," Mr Jones added.
Mum's heartbreak as baby found dead in her bed with cocaine in his bloodstream
Defence barrister Mark Ashley said his client's case was a "classic example of post-natal depression".
Ethan was born prematurely via C-section and required colon surgery immediately, resulting in a two-month stay in hospital.
He said Davis had relationship problems and financial issues and was struggling to bond with Ethan.
Davis was visiting her baby son in the hospital infrequently after his birth, saying she had no transport and family members weren’t always available to drive her.
Girlfriend’s heartbreaking tribute to ‘amazing’ dad, 26, killed in Boxing Day pub attack
"Not only suffering from that," Mr Ashley added, "she was coping with it in the wrong way – she was smoking cannabis."
He told the court Davis had been working with drugs charity Turning Point to cut out her cannabis use, but had been smoking it this week due to her "stress levels being particularly high".
Davis appeared at Salisbury Crown Court on Thursday, December 1, and was jailed for two years for an offence of child cruelty.
She had admitted the offence at a previous hearing in May 2022.
READ NEXT:
Source: Read Full Article