Vernon mom whose baby swallowed meth, cocaine released after 4 months

A Vernon mother who accidentally allowed her 10-month-old baby to swallow meth and cocaine was released from custody today and is now homeless.

Her release comes after B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barbara Norell sentenced the 40-year-old to time served in custody.

The woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban so as not to identify her child, had spent almost four months in custody since her arrest.

The case dates back to 2019 when the woman was living in a basement suite in Vernon with her newborn and the baby's father.

The mother, who has a chronic drug addiction, noticed the baby was extremely agitated one day and took the child to the emergency department. She didn't tell the doctor that there were drugs in her home.

A urine sample found the baby had ingested methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine and methadone or fentanyl.

Luckily, the baby was OK and made a full recovery.

Police searched the home and found two drug pipes on the seat of the baby's highchair. Tests later found the pipes contained traces of meth, cocaine and fentanyl.

Both the woman and her partner were arrested and charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, failure to provide the necessaries of life, and abandoning a child.

The child was taken into the care of a family member.

The father, who wasn't home at the time the child went into distress, later had the charges against him dropped.

The mother pleaded guilty to a single charge of abandoning a child.

Sitting in the dock at the Vernon courthouse, the mother spent the majority of the court proceedings wiping tears from her eyes.

Defence lawyer Laura McPheeters pointed out that the mother had only taken her eyes off the child momentarily.

"(The mother)… is a good person who was trying to be a good mother to her son, she loved her son very much and she did her best to provide a good life for him and (provide) a safe home for him, unfortunately as we know… she was troubled by drug addiction, she also lived with the father of her son that was also troubled by drugs addiction," McPheeters said. "Her own addictions prevented her from taking all of the care that she should have taken all of the time.

"It is not an offence of a person that tried to do something bad, that set out to do something bad or didn't care about doing good," she said.

The mother described the birth of her child and the year she spent looking after him as the best year of her life.

The court heard that the mother had been addicted to drugs since childhood.

She had, however, always functioned, held a full-time job, owned a car, and didn't have a criminal record.

However, after the incident, her life had fallen apart.

She lost her home, relationship, and became homeless. Her drug addiction intensified and as a single woman living on the streets, she was abused.

She missed court appearances and ended up in custody.

Justice Norell accepted a joint submission from the lawyers that a four-month jail sentence was appropriate. The mother was also given two years probation with no contact with her son.

"There is genuine and deep remorse she has suffered a terrible loss because she knows she caused her son pain and danger and it's a burden she will have to carry," the Justice said. "She has lost the custody of her child, for the time being, she has not seen or spoken to him, and she has lost her family and home."

Through tears, the mother told the court she loved her son.

"I'm glad my son is OK and I just love him and I want the best for him, whatever that is…. I'm glad he's with (family) he's doing really well, he's really healthy and happy… I hope I can be part of his life one day," the mother said.

As the sentence meant that the mother will be released from custody as of Friday, June 3, the conversation then turned to where she would go.

"She has nowhere to go when she is released… there is no way to make that sound any better, she has nowhere to go today," McPheeters said.

McPheeters said the mother had been given a list of phone numbers that offered some services, but she hadn't managed to secure housing for the mother.

Everywhere was full, the defence lawyer said.

There was no mention that the woman had any family or support network she could rely on and it was suggested she rent a motel room.

How the mother will fare, alone in a motel room, grieving the loss of her son, and battling addiction, remains to be seen.

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