Young boy is found with more than six prescription drugs in his system and living in squalor

A young boy found with more than six prescription drugs in his system was admitted to hospital 31 times in 13 months, a court has heard.

A mother, from Unanderra, in Wollongong’s south west, pleaded guilty to failing to provide for child cause danger of serious injury at Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.

It comes a year after she was arrested with her female partner by the Child Abuse Squad when her drowsy four-year-old son appeared in hospital barely conscious.

A mother (pictured), from Unanderra, in Wollongong’s south west, pleaded guilty to ‘failing to provide for child cause danger of serious injury’ at Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday

When police, who had been contacted by the hospital, raided the house, they found it littered with cigarette butts, some only centimetres from the infant’s cot.

There were also mouldy food scraps, piles of rubbish and 20 blister packs of prescription drug temazepam among the mess, with one empty pack on the counter. 

After days in hospital, results confirmed the little boy had a mix of prescription drugs  in his system including temazepam, amitriptyline – an antidepressant and promethazine. 

The boy is now in alternative care, while the mother and her partner, who pleaded guilty last month to failing to provide for child cause danger of serious injury, are both on bail, The Daily Telegraph reports.

The partner will be sentenced on November 15, and the mother on December 13. 

Hospital records show the boy’s hospital visits began in September 2017.  

Suspicions arose on October 10 2018, when the boy was rushed to hospital four times in one week with ‘reduced consciousness’. 

Suspicions arose on October 10 2018, when the boy (pictured) was rushed to hospital four times in one week with 'reduced consciousness'

Suspicions arose on October 10 2018, when the boy (pictured) was rushed to hospital four times in one week with ‘reduced consciousness’

The hospital decided to keep the boy in for testing, after he was discharged, only to return 12 hours later with slurred speech, no longer able to hold his head up, or walk.

When doctors asked if the boy could have accidentally obtained prescription medication, the women said only painkillers were kept in the house.  

But when further testing found benzodiazepines in his system, the women admitted that ‘some tablets had arrived in the mail weeks earlier, prompting doctors to contact the Illawarra Child Abuse squad. 

Text messages shown in court reveal the partner had sent photos to the mother of empty packets laying on the counter, and the mother, shocked to see them down, began panicking her son would be removed. 

Text messages shown in court reveal the partner had sent photos to the mother of empty packets laying on the counter, and the mother, shocked to see them down, began panicking her son would be removed (pictured)

Text messages shown in court reveal the partner had sent photos to the mother of empty packets laying on the counter, and the mother, shocked to see them down, began panicking her son would be removed (pictured)

‘They [doctors or police] are going to f**k us n take [the little boy],’ the mother wrote.

Her partner said she wouldn’t allow the hospital to take a urine sample of the boy, but when the mother texted her from the hospital, that it had already been done, she said it was her fault.

‘Babe … it’s totally okay to blame …I have made a mistake and I am very sorry for that,’ the partner wrote.

The mother later admitted in a police interview she had found her son’s little blue chair pressed against the bench leading to the cupboard where the pills were hidden the morning of October 10.

Ten days later, police charged both women with child neglect.

Among the mess, there were also mouldy food scraps, piles of rubbish and 20 blister packs of prescription drug temazepam- and one empty pack on the counter (stock image)

Among the mess, there were also mouldy food scraps, piles of rubbish and 20 blister packs of prescription drug temazepam- and one empty pack on the counter (stock image)

 

   

 

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