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Shaffiq Alkhatib
The times of the strait
December 8, 2020
A nanny who poisoned two babies in her care with a variety of medications, including some used to treat insomnia and anxiety disorders, was sentenced Monday (December 7) to seven years in prison.
District Judge John Ng had previously convicted Sa’adiah Jamari, 39, of two counts of administering poisons to the girls, who survived.
Sa’adiah, who was a freelance nurse, committed the crimes on different occasions in November and December 2016 on the children who are not related to each other. One of them was only five months old at the time, while the other was 11 months old.
Sa’adiah is appealing against his conviction and sentence, and is free on a $ 20,000 bond.
The victims and their mothers cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the children.
On Monday, the judge said the victims were “defenseless babies totally dependent on their caregivers” and were the “most vulnerable victims.”
He added that the drugs Sa’adiah had given the girls had endangered their lives.
The 29-year-old mother of the minor had testified during the trial that in October 2016 she needed a babysitter for her baby and her oldest daughter, who was then five years old.
Court documents did not indicate whether poison had been found in the older girl’s body.
The mother posted an ad on Facebook and Sa’adiah responded, the court heard.
After a visit, the mother felt that the nanny’s Hougang flat was “suitable” for her daughters.
Sa’adiah, a divorcee with two teenage children of her own, began caring for the girls in early November of that year.
After a few visits, the mother noticed that her baby seemed “fussy.”
The fourth time this happened, the mother said that she decided to take the girl to the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) in late November 2016.
The court heard that a health professional said that the baby seemed “fine” after examination and that no poisonous substances were found in the baby.
The mother took her to Parkway East Hospital the following month when her son’s condition did not improve.
The daughter was protected for about five days and the mother received a report from the hospital listing multiple substances detected in the baby’s body.
They included temazepam, a sleep medicine, antihistamine chlorpheniramine, and alprazolam, which is used to treat anxiety disorders.
The mother alerted the police in late December 2016. She said her youngest daughter was fine at the time of her testimony.
The mother of the other baby, 22, had also testified in court and told Judge Ng that she created a Facebook post in December 2016, stating that she needed someone to take care of her baby on Christmas night.
Sa’adiah responded and the mother led her son to the nanny’s apartment.
Her boyfriend picked up the baby around 6 am the next day and the woman noticed that her daughter looked “tired.”
She added: “Even after waking up, she was so sleepy. She couldn’t walk. After an hour … it was still the same … Her head kept moving and turning.”
The baby was brought to the KKH that day and admitted. A urine sample taken from the boy was later found to contain substances that included alprazolam. She was discharged on January 1, 2017.
For each count of causing harm with poisons, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined or punished. Saadiah cannot be spanked because she is a woman. His name is no longer on the list of healthcare professionals in Singapore.
