A mum has been jailed after her baby died when she left him alone with a broken skull in 27C heat to go shopping. Stacey Davis, 35, left one-year-old Ethan Davis in his cot for two hours while she shopped, got her car washed and visited a park.
While she was out, Ethan was trapped alone in a warm room with no windows open and no fan. When Ms Davis arrived home, she did not go to check on him for at least 30 minutes, instead texting a friend.
Ms Davis, of Melksham, Wiltshire, then went into his room and discovered him lifeless and unresponsive in his cot. He was rushed to hospital on June 27, 2018 and was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
She appeared at Salisbury Crown Court on Thursday (December 1) and was jailed for two years for an offence of child cruelty. Ms Davis had admitted the offence at a previous hearing in May 2022.
Prosecutor Simon Jones told the court that a post-mortem examination found a significant head injury - a 15cm skull fracture - but Ethan's cause of death remains unascertained. Under questioning, Ms Davis told police that her son had fallen out of a door and hit his head - and despite the swelling, bruising and obvious distress, she failed to take him to hospital.
"Any reasonable parent would have noticed the distress and sought medical attention", Mr Jones added.
Forensic investigator Nicola Anderson also detected that there were high levels of cannabis in Ethan's hair. She said it was consistent with Ms Davis smoking the drug around Ethan regularly.
Defence barrister Mark Ashley said his client's case was a "classic example of post-natal depression". Ethan was born prematurely via C-section and required colon surgery immediately, resulting in a two-month stay in hospital.
He said Ms Davis had relationship problems and financial issues and was struggling to bond with Ethan. She was visiting him in the hospital infrequently, blaming the inability to obtain lifts from family.
"Not only suffering from that, she was coping with it in the wrong way – she was smoking cannabis", Mr Ashley added. Judge Parkes KC interjected, stating: "It was incredibly stupid, go outside and do it."
Mr Ashley told of how the defendant was scared to take Ethan to the hospital with an injury after social services previously removed him from her care due to a suspected broken leg. However, he was returned when the injury was found not to exist and found no wrongdoing.
He told the court that Ms Davis has been working with Turning Point to cut out her cannabis use. But he said she had smoked it this week due to her "stress levels being particularly high".
Asking for a suspended prison sentence, he added: "Everybody involved is trying to rebuild their lives, she is trying to rebuild her life. 'The matter has been hanging over her head for years, she is extremely worried about going into custody."
Describing Ms Davis' behaviour as "thoroughly selfish", Judge Parkes KC imposed a two-year immediate prison sentence, for which she will serve half in custody. He said: "There is no evidence you or his father caused Ethan's death, no suggestion you did so.
''The sad fact is that you fell very seriously short of the duty owed to Ethan as his mother. He suffered a 15cm skull fracture one-to-three weeks before his death, likely to be from blunt impact of significant force.
''You failed to seek medical attention for the injury to his head. Any normal parent would put the child’s health before anything.
"It is clear you abandoned him on two occasions, including the day of this death. 'This is aggravated by the fact it happened twice. You left Ethan alone in his cot in a room with a closed window.
"You sat on a bench at one point, and you took [a child] to the park and went to a shop. You had taken your car to the car wash on way back. It is reasonably clear you weren’t in a hurry.
"What is particularly appalling about this episode is that you spent half an hour on the phone, sending and receiving messages [when you arrived home], until you went to check on Ethan. You had not seen him, checked on him, for nearly three hours."
