A drug-addicted mother has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the unintentional murder of her son with asthma, who died alone and “breathing air” in a garden.
Laura Heath “to prioritize her heroin and crack cocaine addiction” before the “unnecessary, premature” death of seven-year-old Hakim Hussein on Sunday, November 26, 2017, the Coventry court heard during the trial against her.
The 40-year-old, a former Long Acker in Nechels, Birmingham, was convicted of manslaughter after her “fragile” son died at a friend’s home where they were staying.
Mr Justice Dove said Hakim’s death was the result of Heath’s “catastrophic and deplorable” parenting.
He told Heath that the death came after “a drug-induced downward spiral of misery, chaos and tragedy”.
The judge said: “When Hakim Hussein died in the early hours of the morning, he was only seven years old.
It is clear that in his tragically short life he was an inspirer of happiness and love for the people who knew him.
“All this potential for a wonderful and fulfilling life was interrupted, extinguished when it collapsed, suffocating, squeezing a leaf in the garden.
“The truth is that Hakim died as a result of your deplorable negligence. You had allowed your life to be completely overwhelmed by your addiction to heroin and cocaine. His death was unnecessary, tragic, and the result of your terrible failure as his mother.
The images shown in court reveal Heath, who had drugs worth £ 55 a day, modified one of her son’s inhalers with foil and elastic band so she could use it to smoke crack.
Heath has admitted four allegations of child abuse before the trial, including failing to provide proper medical supervision and exposing Hakim to smoke from asthmatic factors; heroin, foot and cigarettes.
Image: Heath modifies blue inhaler with foil and elastic band so he can use it to smoke crack
School nurse warns Hakim could “die over the weekend”
During the trial, it turned out that school nurse Melanie Richards had warned at a child protection conference that Hakim could “die over the weekend” just two days before his death.
Health, education and social workers at the conference voted in favor of Hakim.
However, the meeting ended with an agreement for the family’s social worker to talk to Heath about the outcome on Monday – at which time Hakim had died.
Nilam Ahmed, a family outreach worker at the boy’s school, told jurors how she voted at the meeting “to take Hakim into care immediately”.
Both Ms. Richards and Ms. Ahmed rated Hakim’s safety as “zero” out of 10.
Following the verdict, Andy Coldrick, chief executive of the Birmingham Children’s Trust, said social workers had missed “clear options” to prevent the boy’s death.
The jury also heard Heath had other children in care before.
A serious review of the agency’s contact with Hakim is expected to be published within weeks.
Image: Police have published photos of the house where Laura Heath lived with her son in Birmingham
“Disgusting” conditions in the home
During the trial, jurors heard Heath has been living in a Long Acker home since 2013, with one visitor describing the conditions as “disgusting”.
The same witness said Hakim said he had no bed and slept on the couch instead, while there was evidence that Heath used a bedroom upstairs for sex work to fund his habit, with a condom basket next to the mattress.
In the days before Hakim’s death, Heath recently began staying with a friend, Timothy Busk, who lived in an apartment on a short walk down Cook Street.
A visitor described the interior as “foggy and smoky” and a “mess”, the court heard.
Image: A witness told the court that Hakim would sleep on the couch, not in bed
Heath smoked three bags of heroin the night before he died
Heath told police the night before her son’s death that she had smoked three bags of heroin – two before Hakim went to bed at 10.30pm and one afterwards, leaving her in a drug-induced sleep.
Mr Busk woke Heath at 7.37am on Sunday, November 26, 2017, and told her that he had found Hakim dead in the garden and carried his emaciated body to the couch.
Heath called 999 and later told police: “Hakim was freezing and his lips were blue.
“Hakim went out when he was not well and must have fallen asleep (when he was outside).
“I just suspect he didn’t wake me up, started breathing fresh air, and then probably fell asleep.
In the early hours, a neighbor heard a knock on his window, but saw nothing in the dark as he went downstairs to investigate.
At the start of the trial, Crown said Heath had not administered “any” asthma “prevention” drugs in the two days before Hakim’s death and did not have access to a space device used to inject more drugs into the child’s lungs.
Police searches found part of a spacer amid moldy food, overflowing ashtrays and drug paraphernalia in Long Acre.
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