The Mccanns have let themselves go...

Drug addict parents sedated toddler every night 'to catch up on their sleep'
Little girl was routinely given Medised at night from the age of two
Toddler also took the sedative Diazepam, Gloucester Crown Court told
'Plainly selfish' mother and father given suspended sentences
By KERRY MCDERMOTT
PUBLISHED: 11:12, 11 March 2013 | UPDATED: 18:41, 11 March 2013


A couple who routinely drugged their toddler daughter so they could 'catch up on their sleep' have been given suspended prison sentences.

The drug addict mother, 41, and father, 40, regularly gave their two-year-old daughter the liquid paracetamol Medised - intended for children more than twice her age - for a year and a half so she was less likely to wake in the night and disturb their sleep, a court heard.

Gloucester Crown Court was told the little girl also sometimes had the sedative Diazepam - used to treat severe anxiety and agitation.


The parents admitted cruelty after drugging their toddler with Medised so they could catch up on their sleep
The girl had to be fed through a nasal tube when she was born due to problems caused by her mother's use of Diazepam and the heroin substitute methadone while she was pregnant, the court heard.

Instead of weaning their daughter off the tube, the couple, from Nailsworth in Gloucestershire, continued to use it routinely because it was easier.
They went on to give her Medised on a nightly basis between the ages of two and a three and a half so they could sleep, he added.

The little girl was taken into the care of an aunt in June 2011 after her 'plainly selfish' parents, who met in rehab, told a social worker what they had been doing.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC criticised the couple for their 'remarkably stupid' actions, and told them he would have jailed them were it not for the fact it would deprive their daughter of weekly supervised visits from her parents.


The parents, whose identities cannot be revealed, walked free from court after being handed suspended sentences
Their offences were not malicious but they were quite plainly selfish to spare themselves the tribulations of parenthood, the judge said.

'Every parent of a young child will have undergone sleepless nights because the child is unsettled for one reason or another. You chose to adminster Medised, which was not intended for a child that age, and you chose to keep very quiet about it,' he said.

'I see before me a wholly inadequate man who was rather struggling with this child and a mother who was more concerned with herself than her child,' the judge added.

Both parents admitted being cruel to their daughter between September 2009 and June 2011 by routinely administering Medised - a liquid medicine typically prescribed to children between the ages of six and 12 to relieve cold and flu symptoms, fevers or headaches.

Her mother admitted a similar charge involving her daughter taking Diazepam, but denied that she had given it to her daughter deliberately.


'Plainly selfish': The mother, 41, and father, 40, were given suspended sentences at Gloucester Crown Court
The couple's denial of a charge of administering methadone to their daughter was accepted by the prosecution.

They had faced another charge of cruelty by using a feeding tube on the child, which was not proceeded with.

'Every parent of a young child will have undergone sleepless nights because the child is unsettled for one reason or another'

Judge Jamie Tabor QC


The woman was sentenced to 18 months suspended for a period of two years, while the man was given a 12 month sentence suspended for the same period.

Both were placed under a curfew between the hours of 8pm and 6am for a period of six months.

The court heard the couple's daughter was eating normally within a month of being taken into care and had grown into a 'bright little button'.

Her parents have supervised access to their daughter at weekends.

It might send the little girl 'off the rails' if she were to be deprived of the visits, the judge said.

Her aunt said in a recent statement: 'She is a much loved, beautiful and bright little girl, surrounded by the people who love her deeply, especially her mum and dad.'

Giles Nelson, representing the girl's mother, said the couple met when they were both in rehab in 2001. 'I am afraid they went badly wrong as parents,' he said.

Martin Steen, representing her father, said: 'He thought that by giving Medised he was relieving her [his daughter] and relieving himself. He now recognises he was wrong and is ashamed. He loves his daughter dearly.'

Judge Tabor told the couple that with their own drug addiction histories they should have known better and what they had done was 'most remarkably stupid'.

He said the mother had show no real effort to address her own addictions and was still taking the highest prescription of methadone he had ever seen.

curious george wrote:Amaral hypothesised that liquid paracetamol had been used to sedate the children. I don’t know whether he used the trade name Calpol or whether that was surmised being a leading brand. However, it was quickly pointed out that Calpol is not a sedative.

But Medised is different. Liquid paracetamol combined with an antihistamine.

mossman wrote:I know many parents who regularly use antihistamines on toddlers in particular whilst flying. They say it keeps normally active toddlers quiet during the flight or indeed keeps them asleep for most of the journey. Most definitely a staple must have in holiday luggage for the flight home too.

margaret wrote:

mossman wrote:I know many parents who regularly use antihistamines on toddlers in particular whilst flying. They say it keeps normally active toddlers quiet during the flight or indeed keeps them asleep for most of the journey. Most definitely a staple must have in holiday luggage for the flight home too.

Parents like that disgust me. They can't be bothered to parent for a few hours, if only things like colouring, reading and sticking books or games like i-spy were invented.....