A three-year-old boy died ‘to all intents and purp

A three-year-old boy died ‘to all intents and purposes’
after drinking a bottle of methadone, a court heard.

But the tot’s life was miraculously saved after doctors
at Whipps Cross Hospital in Walthamstow fought valliantly to
resuscitate him more than 12-hours after he swallowed the
near-fatal dose.

Heroin addict Lisa Ousley, 28, had left a bottle containing
some 80 millilitres of methadone in an unlocked cupboard that
the toddler had easy access to, Snaresbrook Crown Court was
told.

And despite the fact that she knew what the child had drunk
the heroin substitute shortly before 9am on July 11 last year she
failed to call an ambulance until after 11pm that day.

Prosecutor Miss Emma Lowry said that when the defendant
finally telephoned for an ambulance from her home in Snaresbrook,
East London the child had ‘stopped breathing and suffered a heart
attack.

‘He was to all intents and purposes dead but doctors were
able to resuscitate him and he was taken to intensive care.

‘
The toddler, who was given cardiac and respiratory treatment,
had also suffered swelling to the brain and paralysis to his right
arm.

Counsel continued: ‘If he had been taken to hospital straight
away the consequences would have been less severe.

‘
Despite suffering a heart attack which left him with brain
damage and impaired vision ‘he has made a remarkable recovery
expected to continue for up to two years after the incident,’ said
counsel.

But the youngster will require constant attention and supervision
for the rest of his life, the court was told.

Ousley, of Althorne Gardens, Snaresbrook, pleaded guilty to a
single charge of cruelty to a child.

Miss Lowry said that Ousley admitted the offence on the basis
that she ‘neglected to leave her methadone in a place where the
child could get hold of it and failed to get him straight to
hospital.

‘
Judge Andrew Brooks adjourned the case while enquiries are
made by probation officers into the defendant’s suitability for
assessment and treatment at a drug rehabillitation clinic.

Miss Lowry had said that Ousley noticed the child was in a
‘very deep sleep’ and when she picked him up he was, in her words,
‘all saggy.

‘
When she discovered the empty bottle of methadone she
telephoned Whipps Cross Hospital, but ignored repeated pleas from
a nurse there to rush him straight to the casualty unit.

‘She tried to make him sick by putting her hands in his
mouth.

She tried putting him in the recovery position.

‘
Miss Lowry said that Ousley finally telephoned for an
ambulance at 11.

18pm when the child had stopped breathing.

Ousley, who has several previous convictions for drugs
offences, has been regularly prescribed methadone during the
last three-and-a-half years.

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