Drunk Kettering mum spared from prison after baby death tragedy

A mum who was under the influence of alcohol and had taken cocaine on the night her son died in bed with her wept as she was spared from prison.

Lauren Robinson was more than four times the drink-drive limit when she co-slept with her 16-week-old baby Fred at a friend’s house in Kettering.

When she woke up the next morning he was dead, but a pathologist was unable to ascertain his cause of death. Fred also had metabolites of cocaine in his system.

Yesterday (Monday) the 35-year-old was given a suspended prison sentence after admitting wilful neglect.

His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo told her: "The amount of alcohol you had consumed must have impaired your judgement."

Northampton Crown Court heard the Kettering woman gave birth to her son in February 2020 and was staying with a friend overnight on June 5 that year.

At about 6pm they had some food and over the course of the evening they shared about five litres of cider, the court heard, before her friend slept on the sofa and Robinson went to bed with her son.

She called 999 at 6.57am the next morning when she woke up and found Fred unresponsive. He had tragically died and police officers were called to the house.

Prosecutor Claire Fraser said: "She said she felt responsible as she had had a drink.

"She admitted co-sleeping that night."

Robinson gave no comment answers when she was interviewed by police. Using a sample of her blood, officers were able to work out a back calculation for her most likely alcohol level when she went to bed between 11pm and midnight before Fred’s death.

It placed the amount of alcohol in her system at 345 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal drink-drive limit is 80 milligrams.

The court heard Robinson had a history of social services involvement over her heavy drinking and that a pre-birth child protection plan was in place before Fred was born.

Ms Fraser said: "The defendant knew the risks of drinking."

Cocaine was also found to be in her blood, which Ms Fraser said was evidence that Robinson had used cocaine in the previous 12 to 24 hours.

A post-mortem examination found Fred's cause of death to be unascertained.

Ms Fraser said metabolites of cocaine which were in his system may have been through a contaminated bottle or breast-feeding, although the court heard the infant was bottle-fed.

She said: "It's unknown how he ingested cocaine. The fact he did suggests wilful neglect by a known cocaine user."

Robinson, who took a pink suitcase into the dock, kept her head bowed and cried as the events of the night were heard.

A family statement, written by Fred's grandfather, was read out in open court and described the baby boy as ‘perfect’.

It said he rarely cried and just squeaked a little – giving him the nickname ‘squeak’ – and said his death had taken a huge emotional toll on the family.

The statement read: "There is a saying that time heals all wounds. We have not found it to be so."

Mitigating, Adam Davis KC said Robinson’s circumstances had changed significantly since the night of Fred’s death almost two-and-a-half years ago.

He said she has permanent accommodation, which she would lose if she were to be jailed, and is dealing with mental health issues.

He added that she was terrified by the prospect of prison and had recently successfully completed an alcohol treatment course which was imposed upon her by magistrates over a separate burglary incident.

Mr Davis KC said Robinson was extremely remorseful and that there had been a significant delay between Fred’s death and yesterday’s court hearing – with the CPS not charging her until seven months after the file was sent to them – and urged Judge Mayo to suspend any sentence.

He said: "It's a difficult charge, a painful charge, and one that will live with her for the rest of her life."

Judge Mayo told Robinson that she would have been jailed for three years had she fought the charge at a trial, reducing the sentence to two years because of her guilty plea.

And after hearing her mitigation he said that he was satisfied that there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Her prison sentence was suspended for 18 months with rehabilitation requirements, a mental health treatment requirement and an order to reside at a named address for three months.