A court has been informed that a financially suffering mother of a severely crippled girl attempted to kill her daughter by giving her a fatal quantity of insulin, rather than providing her with the necessary care.
The small child needed months of hospital treatment to recover from the claimed attempt on her life because she had a unique genetic abnormality that prevented her from walking, talking, or eating normally.
Her mother, 42, who is unidentified due to legal concerns, acknowledged injecting her daughter at the beginning of 2022 and knowing that it might kill her, but she refuted claims that it was an attempt at murder.
Prosecutor Ben Stanwix told the Supreme Court in Perth today, “The woman had reached the end of her ability to cope with her daughter”.
“She injected her daughter with insulin because she was deliberately trying to kill her.”
According to Stanwix, the infant had severe cerebral palsy and major neurological impairment as a result of her immune system attacking her brain and central nervous system.
Despite her mother’s best efforts to provide her with the round-the-clock care she required, she neglected to go to her expert appointments, even though treatment “was readily available” there.
throughout his opening remarks to the jury, Stanwix stated, “Despite the accused’s efforts, you hear evidence in the trial the girl’s care was suboptimal.”
Rather, the mother went to a general practitioner for assistance, who encouraged her and treated the child.
According to Stanwix, the mother informed the doctor toward the end of 2021 that her daughter was “nearing the end of her life” and was deteriorating.
“That was untrue.
“Rather than getting the … level of care she needed, the accused decided to euthanise her.”
According to Stanwix, the mother came to the conclusion that “her disabled child’s death was the best thing for everyone.”
“Then she set about trying to murder her,” he continued.
The woman allegedly achieved this by persuading the physician to write a prescription for insulin, which, if taken incorrectly, can fatally reduce a person’s blood sugar levels.
Stanwix claimed that while her husband was at the beach with their other kids, she gave the attempted deadly dose.
When her family unexpectedly returned home and discovered the infant in distress, her purported plan came crashing down.
The girl was admitted to the hospital, according to the court, after the “accused faffed around” and “deliberately held back information”.
The girl’s blood sugar was dangerously low, according to medical tests.
“From the moment the woman injected her daughter with insulin … situation was a life-threatening medical emergency,” Stanwix stated.
“This was simply a very sad situation where the woman had had enough.”
The trial is still ongoing.
