Sydney’s mother denies trying to poison her son by putting stool in his IV

An Australian mother accused of putting feces into her son’s cannula while writhing in pain in a Sydney hospital was heard when her sick son asked her “why are you doing this to me”, a court has heard.

The boy’s mother faces a special hearing in Downing Center District Court for allegedly poisoning her 9-year-old son through his cannula (intravenous tube) while he was a patient at Westmead Children’s Hospital in September 2014. .

The woman, a mother of four who cannot be identified, denies having infected the child and has pleaded not guilty to using poison to endanger a life.

The court heard that during his hospital stay the boy felt very ill and began to experience severe fever and delirium.

His blood culture later tested positive for the E. coli bacteria.

The mother’s attorney, Pauline David, told the court Thursday that there were a number of possibilities that could explain how the child became infected.

Crown witness and nurse Lindie Brown, who worked as a unit manager in the room where the boy was a patient, told the court that she felt “very bad” during one of her shifts.

The court heard that the boy had a temperature of 40 ° C and began to experience rigors or tremors.

He also complained of pain in his back, stomach and head and asked for medication to “relieve the pain,” the court heard.

Brown told the court that he later heard the boy ask his mother “why he was doing this to him.”

Then he said words like “you could have put something in my cannula when I was asleep,” Brown said.

During a similar incident the next day, he again asked his mother why she was “doing this to me,” Brown told the court.

“She [the mother] said?’ “Brown said.

“And he said, ‘Poisoning me.’

Brown said he took a “mental note” of the incidents and sent an email to child protective services.

Upon questioning David, he admitted that he did not make a written note about the boy’s claims, as it was not his duty to do so.

Brown also acknowledged that the boy was in a high state of stress at the time she claims to have heard him question his mother.

She agreed with David that he exhibited “considerable” behavioral problems during his hospital stay, insulted the nurses at times, and was “very demanding of his mother.”

“It was a battle, wasn’t it, all the way?” David asked.

“It was,” Brown replied.

Another nurse in the room during that same shift, Kristina White, told the court that she heard the boy say something similar while “looking” at his mother.

“What have you done to my cannula this time?” White testified that the boy said.

White said the mother responded to words like, “Why do you say that? It bothers me when you say those things.”

David asked the witness if it was possible that she had misheard the child and he said to his mother “don’t you dare put anything in my cannula?”

“Possibly yes,” replied White.

She recalled having an argument with Brown “as soon as we left the room” where her superior made it clear that she was concerned about the boy’s alleged comments.

David asked both White and Brown if it was possible that the boy was delirious from the pain relievers he had taken.

They were also asked if they remembered the boy saying words like “why are there elephants in the room?” around the same time he accused his mother of doing something to his cannula.

Neither woman could remember those words, and she couldn’t tell if the boy might have been hallucinating.

Both nurses agreed that she did not like medical staff putting medications in her cannula and would “perform” with them.

Hearing continues before Judge Justin Smith.