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SINGAPORE: A nanny was sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday (December 7) for poisoning two babies in her care four years ago with drug cocktails.
Sa’adiah Jamari, 39, maintains that he did not commit the crimes against the babies, who were then five and 11 months old, and will appeal the decision.
The mothers of both children, who are not related, had hired registered nurse Sa’adiah at the end of 2016. They noticed that their children were sleepy and something was wrong after picking them up.
Both children were respectively hospitalized and drugs were found in their systems, constituting the two counts of administering poison that Sa’adiah has contested.
Medications include: Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, intended for anxiety; orphenadrine, a muscle relaxant; zolpidem, to help you sleep; oxazepam, for anxiety and acute alcohol withdrawal; and diazepam, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety disorders, alcohol withdrawal, or muscle spasms.
Screenshot from Everyday SG video of Sa’adiah Jamari, accused of poisoning two babies.
Some of these drugs were found in Sa’adiah’s home and she had prescriptions for a couple of them. In her defense at trial, Sa’adiah denied giving them to the babies and her lawyers argued that the grandmother of the first victim may have introduced small amounts of drugs into the baby’s food.
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The prosecution requested the seven years in jail she was given, refuting the defense argument that Sa’adiah’s contributions to society as a nurse should be a mitigating factor.
The prosecutor said this should be given little thought and instead this could be seen as an aggravating factor as Sa’adiah was aware of the effects of the drugs but continued to administer them.
Responding to the defense argument that both babies have recovered, the prosecutor said that this cannot be seen as mitigating, as the fact that the babies did not suffer worse effects was simply the lack of an aggravating factor.
READ: Nanny on trial for poisoning babies took medicine from her best friend, who is a doctor
The defense had alleged that there was an excessive delay in the proceedings, noting that the investigating officers had been ordered even during the trial to carry out further investigations.
Attorneys Chua Eng Hui, Luo Ling Ling, and Sharifah Nabilah Syed Omar of Luo Ling Ling LLC asked for no more than two years in jail, noting their contributions as a nurse, including their role during the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). ..
They said Sa’adiah has been suffering from mental illness for the past eight years and was diagnosed with a major depressive disorder, grief or grief reaction. He was also found to have a possible dependence on sleeping pills and benzodiazepines.
He has no prior criminal record, they added.
KEY FACTORS IN CASE
District Judge John Ng noted that Sa’adiah was a freelance nurse who received hospital jobs and promoted herself as a nurse in her advertisements for babysitting and childcare services.
The crime of administering poisons with the intention of causing harm is serious and a sentence of considerable length is warranted, the judge said.
One of the key factors in this case is the tender age of the babies, who were “defenseless babies totally dependent on their caregivers,” Judge Ng said.
“There is no question that a baby is the most vulnerable victim,” he added.
The other factors are the nature of the drugs, which put the victims’ lives at risk, the high level of trust placed in Sa’adiah by the mothers of the babies, and the need for a highly dissuasive sentence against such acts.
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“Madam Sa’adiah is a divorced mother of two teenage daughters,” Judge Ng said. “She maintains that she had not committed the crimes.”
He agreed with the sentence requested by the prosecution, adding that Sa’adiah had not shown “any remorse” and “had not cooperated with investigating agencies.”
He noted that an attempt was made to seek a lower sentence on the basis of Sa’adiah’s alleged psychiatric disorders, but said this was “a failure” as no causal links were found between the disorders and the commission of his crimes. .
For each count of administering poison with intent to cause harm, Sa’adiah could have been jailed for up to 10 years and fined. She cannot be spanked because she is a woman.
