A 12-week-old baby collapsed after ingesting cocaine, leading to prison sentences for the parents. Ella Jones, 28, and Kevin Fields, 29, admitted causing ill treatment and neglect to a child at an earlier hearing and were sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday July 22.
Hospital Visit and Collapse
Jones brought the newborn to Leighton Hospital on May 27 last year after it lost consciousness. Staff suspected the pair were under the influence of drugs and grew concerned about the child's condition. Both parents left the hospital shortly after, telling nurses they would "probably be asleep" if contacted in an emergency.
Toxicology tests later revealed cocaine in the baby's system, which doctors believed caused the infant to become unresponsive. The couple informed staff that the baby had experienced a similar episode three days earlier but they did not seek medical help because the child had recovered.
Sentences and Investigation
Fields, of Mill Street, Crewe, received a two-year prison sentence. Jones, of Hesketh Drive, Northwich, was given a two-year suspended sentence, 25 rehabilitation activity days, a 12-month mental health treatment requirement order, and 150 hours of unpaid work.
Police arrested the couple on June 3. During questioning, both admitted using cocaine in the baby's presence and acknowledged the earlier medical episode. A search of Fields' phone showed he had arranged for a quantity of cocaine to be delivered the day before the baby's second collapse. They could not explain how the drug entered the baby's system.
Sergeant Ann Muldowney said: "Class A drugs like cocaine can have seriously damaging health effects in adults, so it is a miracle that Fields and Jones' utterly deplorable and reckless actions didn't result in a fatality when a child came to ingest the substance. These two squandered the great responsibility that comes with looking after a child, taking no consideration for the needs of someone who has been in the world for only three months and cannot yet look after themselves and needs round-the-clock care and attention."
