Laura Heath “prioritized her heroin and cocaine addiction” before the “pointless, premature” death of seven-year-old Hakim Hussein on Sunday, November 26, 2017, according to Coventry’s court during her trial. The 40-year-old former from Long Acre in Nechells, Birmingham, was convicted of manslaughter after her “weak” son died at the home of a friend where they lived. Justice Dove said Hakeem’s death was the result of Heath’s “catastrophic and deplorable” upbringing. He told Heath that the deaths occurred after her life “entered a downward spiral that fueled drugs into misery, chaos and tragedy”. The judge said: “When Hakeem Hussain died in the early hours of the morning he was only seven years old. It is clear that in his tragically short life there was an inspiration of happiness and affection for the people who knew him. “All this possibility for a wonderful and full life was cut short, extinguished as it collapsed on its own, suffocating, holding a leaf in the garden. “The truth is that Hakeem died as a result of your deplorable negligence. You had let your life be completely overcome by your heroin and cocaine addiction. His death was unnecessary, tragic and the result of your miserable failure as his mother. . “ The court images revealed how Heath, who was addicted to 55 pounds of drugs a day, had modified one of her son’s inhalers with foil and an elastic band so he could use it to crack crack. Heath had admitted to four cases of child cruelty before the trial, including failure to provide proper medical supervision and Hakim exposure to asthma smoke. heroin, crack and cigarettes. Image: Heath has modified a blue inhaler with foil and an elastic band so that it can be used to smoke crack School nurse warns Hakim could ‘die at the weekend’ During the trial, it emerged that school nurse Melanie Richards had warned at a child protection conference that Hakeem could “die at the weekend” just two days before his death. Health, education and social workers at the conference voted in favor of protecting Hakeem. However, the meeting ended with an agreement that the family social worker would speak to Heath about the outcome on Monday – when Hakim had died. Nilam Ahmed, a family information worker at the boys’ school, told jurors she voted at that meeting “to take Hakim immediately”. Both Ms. Richards and Ms. Ahmed rated Hakeem’s safety as “zero” out of 10. Following the verdict, Andy Couldrick, managing director of the Birmingham Children’s Trust, said social workers had missed “clear opportunities” to prevent the boy’s death. The jury also heard how Heath had cared for other children in the past. A serious review of the agency’s contact with Hakeem is set to be published within weeks. Image: Police released pictures of the house where Laura Heath lived with her son in Birmingham “Disgusting” conditions inside the house During the trial, jurors heard that Heath had lived in a Long Acre house since 2013, with a visitor describing the situation as “disgusting.” The same witness said Hakeem said he had no bed and slept on the couch, and there were indications that Heath used an upstairs bedroom for sex work to fund her habit, with a basket of condoms next to the mattress. In the days before Hakeem’s death, Heath had recently started living with a friend, Timothy Busk, who lived in an apartment a short walk from Cook Street. A visitor described the interior as “foggy and smoky” and “dumb”, the court heard. Image: A witness told the court Hakeem would sleep on the couch rather than in bed Heath smoked three bags of heroin the night before he died Heath told police the night before her son died that she smoked three bags of heroin – two before Hakim went to bed at 10.30pm and one after, leaving her to fall asleep to drugs. Mr. Busk woke up Heath at 7.37am. on Sunday, November 26, 2017 and told her that he had found Hakim dead in the garden and had transported his fused body to the couch. Heath called 999 and later told police: “Hakim was frozen and his lips were blue. “Hakim used to go out when he was unwell and he must have fallen asleep (when he was out). “I just suspect he did not wake me up, he took himself to get some fresh air and then he probably fell asleep.” In the early morning hours a neighbor had heard knocks on his window, but saw nothing in the dark as he went downstairs to investigate. At the start of the trial, Crown said Heath “failed to administer” any “preventive” asthma medication two days before Hakim died and did not have access to a separator, which was used to transport more drugs to a lung. child. Police investigations found part of a spaceship between moldy food, overfilled ashtrays and drug paraphernalia in Long Acre.
