Essex woman jailed for life for poisoning baby son with cocktail of drugs | UK news
A mother who poisoned her one-year-old son with a deadly cocktail of prescription drugs added to bottle milk has been sentenced to life in prison for his murder.
Emma Barnett, 36, killed her son Oakley before he was taken into care after a family court hearing ordered him to be removed from her.
Judge Mr Justice Derek Sweeting told Cambridge crown court that Barnett had arranged to attend a family court hearing remotely on November 8, 2024.
He said he drove to Epping Forest before the hearing started and took the medication he had been prescribed on the way home.
Barnett, of Debden, Essex, left a false trail, creating the impression that he had gone to a friend’s house and then to Epping Forest, when in fact he was hiding with his son in the attic at his own address.
He added the antihistamine promethazine, which can cause sedation, and the antidepressant mirtazapine to the juice and milk in Oakley’s bottles.
Following the family court hearing that ordered Oakley’s removal, social workers and police tried to find Barnett to pick up the toddler, the judge said.
“Concerns for your welfare and Oakley’s safety increased as the evening progressed,” the judge said. He said Barnett’s car was found in Epping Forest and a search was carried out with a helicopter and police dogs.
The judge said police arrived at his address shortly before midnight and “heard the sound of a baby crying coming from the attic”.
He said a police officer tried to persuade him, but at 12.16am on the morning of November 9, “the situation changed dramatically, you said ‘I killed him’ in response to a police officer’s question.”
The judge said officers “immediately forced entry” and found Oakley unresponsive and Barnett attempting to take his own life.
Oakley, who was 14 months old, died in the hospital on December 31, 2024.
Jailing Barnett for life with a minimum term of 22 years on Friday, the judge said: “This was the murder of a very young and defenseless child, who was completely dependent on you, as a result of your deliberate actions.”
He said he was “sure” Barnett had “begun planning his own death”.
The judge added: “I find it possible that you will not come to the view that if you could not have Oakley by at least 8 November, no one else could have had it.”
The judge accepted that she had a “defined mental health disorder” and that her five older children had already been removed from her care.
Jonathan Higgs KC, mitigating, said the five children were removed because they “couldn’t look after themselves”. He said he used to have a good character.
Barnett had denied murder but was found guilty last week following an earlier trial.
