Woman who poisoned child with laxatives jailed

A former auxiliary nurse convicted of harming a child with laxatives with “devastating” consequences for him has been jailed for seven years.

Tracy Menhinick, 52, was found guilty of “wilfully” ill-treating the child in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health on various occasions over the course of three years from 2014.

She administered a nonprescribed medication, namely the laxative lactulose, which caused his development and mobility to be affected and led to him being admitted to hospital.

Menhinick, of Aberdeen, then consented to treatments, procedures and operations on the child which she knew were unnecessary, “all to his permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life”, the indictment said.

Convicted in February following a trial at the High Courtinaberdeen,menhinickwasjailedforsevenyears when she appeared for sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday.

Judge Lady Drummond said it was “beyond understanding” why anybody would want to inflict such severe harm and suffering on a child over a number of years.

She said: “The amount of laxatives he was being given by you were such that at times he would have floppy episodes where he became limp and had to be resuscitated.

“You agreed that he should undergo intrusive and risky operations knowing that these were unnecessary.

“You were an auxiliary nurse and knew what you were doing. Even once admitted to hospital you continued to give him dangerous levels of laxatives”

Ladydrummondsaidthat doctors were left “baffled” and one doctor described the boy as being “emaciated” on his last admission to hospital.