Tragic 18-day-old baby suffocated after dad 'took drugs and fell asleep'
03.03.2022 - 19:45
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
An 18-day-old baby tragically died due to lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain after his dad fell asleep while 'under the influence'.
Hunter was unable to move or breath after he was left lying facedown while his father Adam White, 45, who had a longstanding drub problem, drifted off.
The tot later passed away of "positional asphyxia" during the incident in July 2020, Birmingham Live reports.
Mum Terri Walters, 32, was in the house at the time and had also been taking drugs before going to bed.
Both parents were charged with cruelty to a child and admitted to the crime, with Walters entering her guilty plea yesterday morning (March 3) and Adam White pleading guilty last September.
Judge Gregory Dickinson QC described how Walters had not been in the dock, where a defendant normally is, on Monday, February 28.
"On Monday the dock was empty," he said. "The defendant, very, very distressed, left the court building, and it was necessary to issue a warrant for her arrest. She was brought back to court this morning and spent time with her very experienced and very good barrister and solicitor.
"Now she has pleaded guilty. This case concerns the death of a three-week-old baby. The baby died as a result of what is called 'positional asphyxia'. The baby was facedown and could not breathe or move and died of asphyxia. This defendant and her partner were mother and father.
"They both have longstanding drug problems. The baby was in the care of father. He fell asleep under the influence of something. The baby, facedown, died. The mother was in the house, also taking drugs, went to bed, leaving the baby with the father when not safe to do."
The parents of Hunter will be sentenced together on April 22 in the afternoon. He urged her