Man spiked child’s cake with cannabis
POLICE CALLED AFTER BOY BECAME ‘DIZZY AND NAUSEOUS’ AT SCHOOL
A CANNABIS smoker spiked a child’s home-made chocolate cake with the drug while hallucinating.
A seven-year-old boy became ill at school after eating the cake, which Lee Kelly had secretly tipped ‘two joints’ worth into, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
A sentencing hearing was told Kelly, 38, from Dukinfield, sprinkled the drug into the mixture when the youngster was making a cake at his grandmother’s house.
The unsuspecting boy put the mixture into the oven before eating some of the cake with his parents for tea the following day.
All three became nauseous and dizzy due to the effects of the drug - with the boy complaining of feeling unwell during school hours.
Police were called in after the parents examined the remaining slices of the cake and realised they contained cannabis.
The boy was taken to his GP and traces of the drug were found in his system.
The court heard Kelly later told police a ‘voice in his head’ told him to do it ‘telepathically.’
He admitted administering a noxious substance and was sentenced to six months jail, suspended for a year.
He had three previous convictions including drug offences, and a doctor said he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia due to his extensive use of cannabis.
His lawyer, Phillip Barnes, said in mitigation: “He was extremely unwell and had consumed a large amount of alcohol and drugs.
“Since the incident he has ceased using drugs in an attempt to improve his mental health and has found this has really helped him.
“He expresses significant remorse for his actions and vows to never do anything like this again.”
Passing sentence for the offence, Judge Stuart Driver QC said it had been ‘worrying and distressing’ for the boy’s family.
“It is important for the public to understand this man was going through severe mental illness at the time of the incident.
“Luckily, there have been no long-term consequences. You told the police that you were told to do this, that your sister told you to do this by a voice in your own head. You were experiencing paranoid schizophrenia but a child was put at risk of harm.”
Kelly was also ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation requirement activities as well as a thinking skills programme.