A three-year-old girl has died from a heart attack after ingesting cocaine brought into her home by her drug-dealer dad, a judge has ruled.
The child,
named in court only as K, was admitted to hospital with suspected sepsis or
meningitis, but collapsed and died on April 6, 2019. A post-mortem then
revealed she had cocaine in her blood.
Her parents
blamed each other for bringing drugs into the property, with the dad claiming
her mum had left cocaine in a bedroom drawer. Their other four children were
removed from the household.
High Court
judge Mr Justice Williams has now ruled that K’s dad "carelessly"
brought the cocaine into the house, "in connection with his drug-related
activities".
He said it
was probable the drug-dealer had "brought the cocaine onto the
premises" and "processed it in some way in an area which the children
would have access to".
Exactly how K
came to ingest the cocaine remains unclear, the judge said. He also blamed the
mother for being "well aware" of the dad bringing drugs into the
property, as she was also using them herself.
He went on:
"It seems most probable that she turned a blind eye or persuaded herself
that sufficient precautions were being taken to protect the children. This was
to kid herself."
The judge
described K as a "playful, cheeky and loving little girl with all of her
life to live" and said he hoped the parents would learn from her death.
The girl had
been living in London at the time of her death, and six arrests were made in
connection with the case last year, a spokesperson for the Met Police said. All
were released under investigation, but an investigation led by specialist crime
command is still ongoing.
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