Toddler drown newborn twin brother and almost killed other as drunk mum slept

A toddler drowned one of his newborn twin
brothers in the bath and nearly killed the
other as his mother slept after downing cans
of Special Brew. The three-year-old decided to make his tiny
siblings ‘nice and clean’ after his mother had
drunk four cans of the 9% lager. But tragically, he put them in a bath filled
with 10 inches of cold water, killing one of
them and leaving the second with
permanent brain damage. Liverpool Crown Court today heard how the
mother had fled home to escape violent
domestic abuse from her ex-boyfriend and
sought refuge at the house of her poorly
mother. But the property, in Liverpool, was so small
that she only had a small box room for
herself and three children, with the toddler
sharing a bed with her, and the babies
cradled in a chest of drawers. The mother, who cannot be named,
yesterday(Fri) admitted child neglect
charges. She was given a one year jail sentence
suspended for two years by a judge and a
supervision order. Judge Mrs Justice Cox told her: “Your real
punishment will lie in the images that will
stay with you, possibly permanently, of what
happened that day when you discovered
your babies and tried to revive them.” The mother, who suffered from sleep
deprivation, dozed off after downing the
lager and woke up to discover the babies
‘floating in the bath water.’ Keith Sutton, prosecuting, told how the
toddler was overheard saying: “I put them in
the bath, I have them a shower. They are
nice and clean now.” One of the tots died days later in his father’s
arms. His brother, who suffered cardiac
arrest, was left with severe brain damage. Judge Mrs Justice Cox said: “This was not a
case involving positive and deliberate acts of
abuse or ill-treatment. I accept you intended
no harm. “But you chose to drink strong lager that day
and it’s effects were devastating. “You were responsible for those young
children in your care and there was a
serious breach of the standards they were
entitled to have.” The judge described the mother as “in
general terms, a loving and caring mother
who understands the duties and
responsibility of motherhood”. David McLaughlin, defending, said she
would forever had to live with the tragedy. He said: “She bears full responsibility - not a
day goes by when she doesn’t think about
what happened. “Every morning she wakes up with a vision
of her babies’ faces in the bath, a vision that
will haunt her forever-more.” He added: “She wants her toddler son to
know, no blame should be laid against him.