Man who spiked disabled boy's pop with drugs branded 'unforgivable' by detective
A detective described the poisoning of a disabled boy who had his can of fizzy pop spiked with amphetamine as a "horrifying incident".
The nine-year-old was poisoned by a 39-year-old drug addict in Ludlow, who was sentenced to 32 months in prison last week.
The man put white powder in a can of Orangina and encouraged the boy, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, to drink it, saying: "Do you want some of this, little man?"
After the conviction, investigating officer Detective Constable Karena Evans, from West Mercia Police's Protecting Vulnerable People team, said: “This was a horrifying incident and hard to comprehend that someone would do something so awful to a disabled child. Thankfully, the little boy has survived his ordeal and he has now been safeguarded.”
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard the offence came to light when a woman, also from the Ludlow area, caught him on video.
She had been covertly filming the man due to suspicions that he was cheating on her.
However, she witnessed the man drop amphetamine into the can and give it a shake, before offering it to the boy.
The woman was herself sentenced for a neglect charge, having waited 17 hours to take the boy to hospital. He was initially described as hyperactive as a result of taking the substance, but did not become seriously ill.
The pair pleaded guilty to ill-treatment/neglect of a child to cause unnecessary suffering.
The man admitted an additional charge of possession of cannabis.
Judge David Hale told the man: “While I have a degree of sympathy for her [the woman], I have no sympathy for you.
“Depression, PTSD and addiction is one thing.
“But to deliberately give amphetamine to a nine-year-old, grossly disabled child is unforgivable.
“I expect that you now are horrified that you did it, and can’t understand how you could come to do it or what you were thinking. But you did it.
“It was a deliberate disregard for his welfare.
“It is beyond belief. It really was unbelievable conduct.”
The woman was handed a 12-month conditional discharge with an alcohol treatment requirement of six months and 20 rehabilitation activity hours.
