A heroin addict who used her son's inhaler to smoke crack cocaine has been jailed after he suffered a fatal asthma attack. Laura Heath was sentenced to 20 years in prison after she admitted child cruelty and was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter over the death of Hakeem Hussain.
The seven-year-old boy was found dead in a garden in Nechells, Birmingham, in the early hours of Sunday, November 26, 2017. A trial at Coventry Crown Court heard how Hakeem went outside on his own as Heath, 40, deliberately “prioritised” her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine, leaving him without an inhaler.
Her son had been admitted to hospital three times in the previous two years because of his asthma, and a school nurse had told a child protection conference that Hakeem “could die at the weekend” just two days before his death, the trial heard. Matthew Brook, prosecuting, told the court that Hakeem died "alone in the early hours of the morning".
