A woman who attempted to murder a toddler by repeatedly giving the child adult medication in an "utterly wicked" crime has been given a life sentence. Laura Docherty dosed the little girl with antidepressant and painkilling drugs, resulting in her needing to be resuscitated and placed on a ventilator during the prolonged abuse.
Details of the crime
Docherty, 35, formerly of Canmore Road, Glenrothes, in Fife, denied attempting to murder the child during an earlier trial but was unanimously convicted of the crime. She gave the child Amitriptyline, Propranolol and Dihydrocodeine on various occasions between April 2021 and February 2023 at a house in Edinburgh, the city's Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and elsewhere, to the danger of the victim's life.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that as a result of taking the medication, the girl, who was aged two when the offending began, suffered seizures and episodes of reduced consciousness. The victim was admitted to hospital and was subjected to "unnecessary medical investigations and procedures," the attempted murder charge stated.
Sentencing and judge's remarks
A judge imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction on Docherty and ordered that she must serve a minimum term of six years' imprisonment before she can seek to apply for parole. Judge Michael O'Grady KC told her: "When you are released, if indeed you are ever released, will be a matter for the Scottish parole board."
He said that in her case she would most likely spend "a significant period of years in custody." He pointed out that Docherty committed the crime at a time when she was under supervision and said: "The word 'wicked' is an old fashioned word, but there are times when no other word will suffice."
"It is absolutely plain this was done for attention and drama," said the judge. Mr O'Grady said: "You deny your guilt. You accept no responsibility. You show no remorse or insight. You blame others for the situation you find yourself in."
He said that on one occasion Docherty came within a hair's breadth of killing the child and a paramedic had to use all his skills to bring her back from the point of death while Docherty responded by filming the episode.
Impact and further details
Following the guilty verdict, the judge earlier told her: "You have had a troubled and unhappy life and no doubt at least some of that will not be of your making. But it is difficult to see that anything could adequately explain or justify what you have done to the child. Whatever your own trials and tribulations, whatever the turmoil in your own life, what you did to the child was utterly wicked," he said.
The judge said: "It is impossible to forget the sight of a young child - who should have been in the flower of her childhood - prone in the back of an ambulance, desperately struggling to breathe, desperately struggling to hang on by a thread to life." Mr O'Grady said that Docherty was "willing to throw away" the child's life for "nothing more than the drama of the moment and the attention" she seemed to seek.
He said: "You must have understood the pain, the fear and the misery you inflicted on this child; indeed you saw and heard it with your own eyes and ears." The judge said the survival of the victim owed "absolutely nothing" to Docherty, but was down to the considerable skill of doctors and paramedics.
He previously said that Docherty was manipulative and cunning and added: "Time and again she deceived doctors and nurses and social workers and showed considerable guile."
The court heard that a report prepared on Docherty had concluded that she has an emotionally unstable personality disorder. Defence counsel Simon Gilbride argued that Docherty could be dealt with by a substantial fixed jail term followed by a period of supervision in the community. He said the crime involved "extraordinary behaviour" and added: "She is going to have to address her behaviour in order to have any kind of meaningful future."
Docherty had originally faced further charges, including an allegation that between February 2022 and February 2023 she obtained money by fraud by setting up a fundraising page via the "Go Fund Me" website using a fake name and falsely claiming that the child was suffering from a neurological illness. The jury did not have to consider reaching a verdict on that charge. The judge made a non-harassment order prohibiting Docherty contacting or attempting to contact the victim.
