A mum sobbed uncontrollably in the dock as she was today found guilty of causing the death of her baby son.
Amy Beck was on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of exposing 13-week-old Olly-James to the party drugs mephedrone (M-cat) and MDMA, resulting in them entering his bloodstream before he died.
A jury took just over a day to unanimously convict the 32-year-old of the charge.
Beck was also found guilty, by majority, of two other charges that she wilfully neglected two other children, who also had drugs in their system.
She was also found unanimously guilty of a single charge of being concerned in the supply of M-cat.
Mum ‘polluted’ house with illicit drugs
Following the verdict, Judge Fiona Tait described the trial as a “distressing case”.
As she remanded first-offender Beck in custody, she told her that she had to take into account the serious nature of the charges.
The judge said: “[Defence advocate David] Moggach asks that I continue bail pending the preparation of these reports, but having regard to the nature of these offences I’m not prepared to continue bail and you will be remanded.”
Beck wept as she was led off to custody.
She will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh next month.
During the trial, jurors heard from advocate depute Erin Campbell about how Beck had “polluted” the family home with illicit drugs, which had found their way into her baby’s bloodstream.
“It was in the air, on surfaces and on DVD cases,” Ms Campbell told the court, adding: “Mephedrone was in the milk, in the baby bottle and in the kitchen.
“His bottle on the day he died had mephedrone in it – the environment became polluted by these drugs.”
The main cause of death on the autopsy report was listed as peritonitis, which can be caused by a ruptured bowel, and M-cat exposure was listed as a secondary cause.
However, forensic pathologist Dr Tamara McNamee stated while giving evidence that she “cannot fathom” how the illicit party drug that was found in the child’s bloodstream has not contributed Olly-James’ death.
Dr McNamee said: “He was a three-month-old child with a failure to thrive and a significant natural disease and I do believe that is the component that has tipped him over the edge in this circumstance.”
“The component being?’ advocate depute Erin Campbell asked.
“The mephedrone exposure,” she replied.
Jurors also heard from histopathologist Dr Andreas Marnerides, an expert in the study of tissues and cells, who reviewed Olly-James’ autopsy and postmortem.
He stated that, in his opinion, “on the balance of probability” M-cat exposure in combination with peritonitis was the main cause of Olly-James’ death.
“It was the combination effect that resulted in death,” Dr Marnerides added.
Amy Beck lied to police to hide drug dealing on morning of son’s death
Beck also faced accusations that she lied to police about her whereabouts on the morning of her infant son’s death.
Detective Constable Marie Buckley told the court that Beck had initially provided her with a false police statement following Olly-James’ death.
But when confronted by DC Buckley with evidence that she had left her home at around 2am to take drugs, Beck then provided a new statement admitting that she had indeed left her home and gotten a lift to a house in Fraserburgh.
She further admitted that when she got to the house she took a line of cocaine upon entry.
Beck said she neglected to mention this to the police in the first instance because Olly-James had been left with her 14-year-old brother when her then-partner drove to Fraserburgh to collect her.
Last week, Beck’s former friend Olivia Guntrip had earlier told jurors that Beck had arrived to supply M-cat to someone at the property.
Guntrip also told the court that Beck had asked her to lie to the police after Olly-James had died.
Beck and Guntrip then returned to Beck’s house in Sandhaven later on December 22 2019, with her infant son becoming unresponsive soon after.
Olly-James was rushed by air ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he died later that day.
The child’s dad, Kieran Sievwright, also gave evidence but, in dramatic scenes, attempted to flee the courtroom after being confronted with evidence of his own drug taking.
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