Accused mum ‘anxious overly vigilant parent’

A mother who allegedly abused her two children by intentionally making them ill was simply an anxious, overly vigilant parent, a court has been told.

The case against the woman, known as ‘‘L’’, is in its final stages in the High Court at Auckland. She has name suppression due to a High Court order.

On Thursday, Crown prosecutor Mark Harborow said the woman intentionally made her children sick because she loved the drama of hospitals.

However, defence lawyer Susan Gray said the Crown had proven little. ‘‘This case is a perfect storm of anxiety, over-reactions, hyper vigilance and layers of suspicion,’’ she said.

Her client had admitted taking her children to the hospital more often than she should but this was due to her anxiety, Gray said.

It was the Crown’s case that between January 2011 and October 2015, the woman took her daughter to hospital, A&E clinics, and GPs more than 100 times.

At one point in 2013, she took her daughter to hospital saying she was suffering from seizures. After medical experts were unable to diagnose the young girl’s illness, the woman began overdosing her child on medication, the Crown alleged.

That caused ataxia, a condition when a person loses control of their limbs. On another occasion, she made her daughter swallow a coin so she would have to be taken to hospital.

The jury heard throughout the trial how the woman would often post on Facebook about her children’s illnesses.

‘‘She took her to hospital, she got more sympathy and attention and puts it all over Facebook and texts everyone about it,’’ Harborow said.

Police were alerted in October 2015, when the woman called emergency services after her newborn son stopped breathing.

The Crown said the woman intentionally suffocated the boy and then made a video of him turning blue.

A police investigation was launched, and the children were removed from the woman’s care.

However, while she was on a supervised visit to see her children, the Crown alleged she made her young son swallow a button battery. It passed through him without any damage.

Justice Mary Peters expected to sum up today. is