A three-year-old girl tragically died after ingesting some cocaine left out by her drug dealer dad, a court has heard.
The girl, known only as K for legal reasons, from London, was described as ‘a playful, cheeky and loving little girl with all of her life to live’ by the judge.
The Sun reports that K collapsed after being admitted to hospital with suspected sepsis or meningitis.
It was heard that she suffered a heart attack as a result of taking the Class A substance and passed away.
But it was only after a post mortem was carried out that doctors discovered she had ingested cocaine.
The mother and father blamed one another for the death and their other four children were taken from them by social services, it was heard.
High Court judge Mr Justice Williams stated during the hearing that the father brought the drugs to the mother’s house and that they were connected with ‘his drug-related activities’.
He said: “It seems most probable that the cocaine that K ingested was present in the mother’s home as a result of father having brought it onto the premises and having processed it in some way in an area which the children would have access to.
“Precisely where in the house and all the circumstances in which K came to ingest it, I do not consider that it can be determined.
“However, my conclusion that it was the father’s drug which was carelessly left in the mother’s home and there ingested by K is where responsibility ultimately lies.”
The judge also condemned the mother, a drug user herself, for allowing this to happen.
He added: “The mother was well aware of the father bringing cocaine into her home and it being processed there.
“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.”
Adding: “If ever there was a lesson of the perils of drug misuse, this provides it. I have little doubt that adults, young people and children will continue to die from the deliberate and inadvertent ingestion of illicit drugs.
“The complacency that accompanies frequent misuse is perhaps one of the biggest problems.
“Whether this family is able to learn from this tragedy remains to be seen. I hope they and others do.”
The Metropolitan Police arrested six people at the time of the toddler’s death but all were released. Investigations are still ongoing.
