Toddler ‘was force-fed salt by mother’

A MOTHER accused of deliberately poisoning her toddler had searched online for how much salt an 18-monthold could eat, a court heard.

Truro Crown Court heard that the woman, who is in her late twenties and from the St Austell area of Cornwall, gave the child between 21 and 24 grams of salt.

Peter Coombe, the prosecuting barrister, told the jury such a quantity of salt must have been administered intentionally and no child could digest that amount without it being disguised in food or drink.

The mother, who cannot be named, denies unlawfully and maliciously administering salt to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm to her daughter.

The trial continues.