AN infant saw “monsters” while hallucinating in hospital after drinking juice laced with amphetamine from a bottle mixed by his drug-taking mum.

Carlisle Crown Court heard of a terrifying incident which unfolded at the woman’s Cumbria home on May 12, 2019.

Two days earlier, a friend saw her take the controlled substance amphetamine by mixing powder with squash, stirring the mixture and then drinking it. She then put the bottled in a top kitchen cupboard.

The mother lived with her two children, a primary school age daughter and infant son.

On May 11, she left the pair in the care of a relative, went on a night out and took a cocktail of illicit drugs — cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamine. As her children were returned the following day, the woman took a bath and they were left unsupervised.

The girl found a bottle on the kitchen table and poured some juice for her young brother, which he drank. “A short while later, he began to show signs of becoming ill, complaining of stomach pains and appearing to have convulsions,” said Gerard Rogerson, prosecuting.

His mother called an ambulance and the boy was taken to hospital. She claimed the bottle was found outside her property, also denying any knowledge of the container or its contents.

“After arriving at hospital (the boy’s) condition continued to cause concern,” said Mr Rogerson. “He was suffering from convulsions and hallucinations, seeing monsters and believing that cartoons on the wall of the children’s ward were alive and moving around him.

“Mercifully he made a full recovery having received treatment.”

The woman continued to make denials in the aftermath but later admitted two child neglect charges and had since shown remorse.

Judge Nicholas Barker told her: “You left that dangerous product within reach of your children whilst you were upstairs and they were left unsupervised downstairs. At the time I suspect you were still suffering the effects of alcohol and drugs you had taken the night before.

“All of it demonstrates, does it not, that your children were not your priority at the time — that your hedonistic lifestyle was all you were focusing on.”

Of her son, the judge said: “He of course, in his infant mind, would have been simply terrified by what was taking place.”

After learning of the woman’s troubled past and that she had taken steps to address her drug-taking, Judge Barker suspended a 12-month jail term for two years. The woman must also complete a rehabilitation requirement, and 80 hours’ unpaid work.

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