A woman who injected a child with faeces has had her prison sentence increased by judges at the Court of Appeal.
Elizabeth Faragher, 43, formerly of Albert Street, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, left the youngster with "deep muscle scarring and multiple scars," a court heard. In April, she admitted one count of cruelty to a person under 16 and five counts of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent.
She initially received a sentence of five years and 10 months at Preston Crown Court in July. Now, her sentence has been increased to eight years following a hearing after her case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
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Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Dove and Mrs Justice Steyn, said the case was "difficult and distressing". On behalf of the AGO, Nicholas Hearn told judges that the original sentence "did not reflect the cumulative seriousness of the offences” and was “unduly lenient”.
A written reference from the AGO to the court stated that the child was frequently taken to see medical staff and was found to be suffering from infections all across the body, with "faecal organisms" present. Initially, doctors “could not identify a medical explanation”, with the youngster required to undergo “invasive” and “painful” tests, including a bone marrow extraction.
Clinicians later came to the conclusion that the infections had been "induced" by Faragher who injected the child with "faecal matter". Faragher, who joined Friday's hearing via video link and sat with her head bowed, did not provide any explanation for her actions.
Rosalind Emsley-Smith, representing Faragher, told the court there was no error in the calculation of her sentence. She noted that the judge took into account Faragher's "vulnerability and fragility". Faragher had issues with alcohol, on occasion drinking two bottles of vodka a day, which she used to cope with bereavement, the court heard.
Lord Justice Edis said the Court of Appeal concluded the sentencing judge was “led into error” when handing Faragher her jail term, which was “unduly lenient”.
“We simply cannot describe this offence of cruelty as anything other than serious, indeed very serious,” he said.
He said there had been “attempts to cause the child harm”, exposing them “to a very serious risk of illness and further grave harm”.
Speaking after the hearing, Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson said: “This was a deeply upsetting case of child cruelty and it was clear to me that Elizabeth Faragher’s shocking actions warranted a stronger prison sentence.
“Today’s verdict shows that all forms of cruelty to children will be met with the strongest possible punishment.”
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