Drug addict mother, 40, is found GUILTY of gross negligence manslaughter

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A drug addict mother has been found guilty of the gross negligence manslaughter of her asthma-suffering seven-year-old son after he died alone and ‘gasping for air’ in a garden – two days after social services had voted to act to protect him.

Laura Heath, 40, deliberately ‘prioritised her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine’ prior to the ‘needless, premature’ death of ‘frail’ Hakeem Hussain from an asthma attack on Sunday November 26 2017, prosecutors had told Coventry Crown Court.

An image revealed during the trial showed how Heath had even used foil and an elastic band to rig one of her son’s blue inhalers to smoke crack, fuelling a £55-a-day habit. 

Heath, formerly of Long Acre, Nechells, Birmingham, was convicted today of gross negligence manslaughter of Hakeem, who died at the home of a friend where his mother had been staying. She admitted four counts of child cruelty before trial, including failing to provide proper medical supervision and exposing him to class A drugs.

The case is yet another blow for the current social services system, with the verdict coming just a day after the mother and stepfather of five-year-old Logan Mwangi – who ‘was kept prisoner’ in his dark bedroom before being found dead – were convicted of the child’s murder. Social workers missed at least two opportunities to rescue the schoolboy from the clutches of his parents.

There are also chilling echoes of the tragic deaths of 16-month-old Star Hobson, six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and two-year-old Kyrell Matthews – all three of whom died after suffering months of systematic abuse at the hands of their wicked parents and repeatedly let down by agencies which missed chances to intervene. 

In the case of Hakeem, it emerged in evidence that at a child protection conference on the Friday, just two days before his death, health, education and social workers had voted to act to protect him, but the meeting ended with an agreement that the family’s social worker would speak to Heath on the Monday, detailing the meeting’s outcome – by which time Hakeem was dead.

In her evidence at the trial, school nurse Melanie Richards said she told the meeting ‘he (Hakeem) could die at the weekend from asthma’.

Iain Butlin Moran, who chaired the conference, told the trial that social worker Stuart Sanders had been due to speak to Heath about the meeting’s outcome, and to encourage her to ‘work with social services’, but he added that ‘standard practice would have been to do that on the Monday’. 

Neelam Ahmed, family outreach worker at Hakeem’s school, also told jurors how she had also voted at that meeting ‘to take Hakeem immediately in to care’.

A serious case review is now under way into all agencies’ contact with Hakeem and his family, to be published within weeks.

Since April 2018, the city’s social services have been the responsibility of a new organisation, the Birmingham Children’s Trust.

The trust’s chief executive Andy Couldrick, speaking after the trial, said the child protection conference ‘should have happened earlier’ and there were ‘some clear missed opportunities’ in the case.

Hakeem’s death came just months before responsibility was transferred from the council’s failing child social services department, after years of poor performance dating back to 2008.

Those failures were placed in sharp focus by high-profile child deaths, such as those of Khyra Ishaq in 2008, Keanu Williams in 2011, and Daniel Pelka in 2012.

Mr Couldrick, giving an overview of Hakeem’s case, said: ‘There were some clear missed opportunities, (and) some of them are distressingly familiar in terms of other cases.

‘I think that, for too long, social workers worked in what they believed was partnership with the mother, and didn’t understand the amount of disguise and deception in regards to her substance use, in particular, and Hakeem, and who had an additional area of vulnerability because of his asthma.

‘I think different agencies and services connected with Hakeem didn’t do enough to seek information from each other and share that information. 

‘If all of the necessary information is being shared… I think a different picture emerges.’

He added: ‘At the sharpest point was the child protection conference on Friday before the weekend of his death.

‘That conference should have happened earlier.

‘And in any conference where there is such a serious level of concern about the risk to the child, it should have led to more immediate action.

‘The serious case review may shed more light, but I am assuming there must have been a consensus at the end of the conference that meant there wasn’t immediate action taken.

‘That’s one thing that has changed in the way we do business.

‘In any situation where that level of concern is identified… that would, today, provoke an immediate response.’

Asked if vulnerable children were safe in Birmingham in 2022, Mr Couldrick said: ‘These measures are stronger in Birmingham than they were five years ago.

‘I think we will never be able to completely eradicate the risk of tragedies like this happening, because people go on finding ways of doing seriously harmful things to small children.

‘The least we can do, reduce the risk to the lowest level possible… the way we have since the Trust started.’

He added: ‘We ask social workers to judge when the right time is to remove a child.

‘We want social workers to get that right.

‘Most of the time social workers do that well – and sometimes get it wrong.’

‘I think child social care in Birmingham did do some things wrong (in this case) and we have worked hard to learn those lessons,’ he added.

‘Because every time we let this happen, we lose social workers.

‘I hope we can be humble about the things which have gone wrong, and learn better from that and be confident to put things in place to make Birmingham Children’s Trust a safe place to learn and become stronger social workers.’

A serious case review into all agencies’ contact with the youngster and his mother, before his death, is set to be published within weeks.

But following the trial, the head of Birmingham Children’s Trust, which took over child social services in early 2018, said there were ‘clear missed opportunities’ in social services’ handling of the case.

Mr Justice Dove said he will not pass sentence today and adjourned the case until Thursday.

The courtroom was cleared and Heath remained with her head in her lap as her legal counsel approached her.

The total jury deliberation time was six hours and 20 minutes.

Teachers and classmates have paid tribute to ‘warm and generous’ seven-year-old Hakeem Hussain, whose mother has been convicted of fatally neglecting him.

‘Incapable’ Laura Heath deliberately ‘prioritised her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine’ prior to the ‘needless, premature’ death of Hakeem from an asthma attack on November 26 2017, prosecutors told the jury at Coventry Crown Court.

In a statement, released in December 2017, staff and children at Nechells Primary Academy paid tribute: ‘Hakeem was a most beautiful little boy, a great friend to many staff and children, with a wicked sense of humour and an infectious giggle.

‘He was a warm and generous-hearted soul who was talented across many areas of the curriculum but especially so in music and the arts. 

‘He totally stole the show with his performance as the Christmas Star in the Year 2 nativity play with his clear speaking voice and stage presence.

‘There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as he delivered his lines with poignancy, grace and humour.

‘The twinkle in his beautiful eyes was as bright as the stars in the sky, and our love for him will shine out forever, from all of his Nechells family.’

Following the verdict, Detective Inspector Michelle Thurgood, of West Midlands Police, who led the investigation, said: ‘Hakeem’s death was untimely, tragic and preventable.

‘He was a young boy who should have been enjoying a carefree and happy childhood.’

She added: ‘His mother had a duty of care to manage the administration of his asthma medication.

‘Her life and home was chaotic and this had a detrimental impact on poor little Hakeem.

‘My thoughts remain with his loved ones and I hope the court outcome offers some comfort.’

Georgina Davies, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: ‘This was a tragic case of a young boy who was let down by his mother, who should have protected him.

‘The terrible choices that Laura Heath repeatedly made led to the loss of Hakeem Hussain and I welcome the jury’s decision.

‘My heartfelt condolences go out to Hakeem’s family. I hope today’s verdict brings them a small measure of comfort that Heath has been held accountable for Hakeem’s death.’