Bristol junkie mum loses appeal over jail term for baby's drug death
A junkie mum, who binged on drugs as her baby son died from an overdose of crack cocaine, heroin and methadone, has failed in an appeal against her five-year jail term.
Sabrina Ross, aged 31, left 14-month-old Rio alone as she first left her flat to buy drugs and then shared crack cocaine and heroin with a friend in another room.
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In June, the former prostitute and long-term addict, who lived in Wordsworth Road, Horfield, was sentenced to five years in prison after admitting manslaughter at the city's Crown Court.
Upholding her prison term at the Court of Appeal, Lord Justice Thomas said her offending had involved "gross negligence" in her duties as a mother to her son.
Ross thought she had beaten her drug addiction, but relapsed in the months before her son's death because she found she could not cope with the trauma of her partner's terminal illness.
On one occasion, she saw Rio, who was born addicted to methadone, playing with a bottle of the legal heroin substitute as he lay on a bed at the flat.
On the night he died, she admitted having left him alone three times as she bought drugs and found him dead when she woke up the following morning.
Tests showed he had suffered "significant exposure" to methadone, cocaine and heroin at various times in preceding months.
Breast feeding by an addict mother could account for some, but not all, of his exposure, experts said.
Ross admitted responsibility for his death. She admitted that she had smoked drugs when her son was in the same house and that she should have taken precautions to stop him from being exposed to drugs, because she knew that he was "into everything".
Her barrister, Fiona Elder, argued before Lord Justice Thomas, Mr Justice Sweeney and Judge Elgan Edwards that the five-year term was "manifestly excessive", but had her case rejected by the judges.
"It is clear, on the evidence before the learned sentencing judge, that no proper steps had been taken to prevent the child having access to lethal drugs," said Lord Justice Thomas.
"It is also clear she smoked crack cocaine in the presence of the child."
Although she had previously been a good and caring mother, there had been a "gross failure" to prevent his access to the drugs and exposure by her smoking of crack cocaine, he added.
"It appears to us that the judge in this case looked at all the circumstances, considered all the material matters and the sentence that he passed was right in principle and of the right length."
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by Sparkie, Bristol
Sunday, November 16 2008, 4:58PM
“This story really saddened me. When this lady hopefully one day becomes clean, she will have to live with the fact that she killed her child for the rest of her life.......no other punishment could be worse than that......it just goes to show how wrong the use of drugs of any kind really are.
Maz, Bristol
The only sadness I feel is for the child who had the gross misfortune to be borne to this excuse for a mother. Obviously she still doesn't care a hoot - she is more interested in getting out of prison than in what she has done. Any normal person would be so distraught at what they found they had done that they wouldn't even think of themselves in that way.
Some people should just be sterilised - its best for the kids.
Where is the Devil's Advocate when ya need him? Another victim of Political Correctness I would guess. :(”
by Maz, Bristol
Saturday, November 15 2008, 4:06PM
“This story really saddened me. When this lady hopefully one day becomes clean, she will have to live with the fact that she killed her child for the rest of her life.......no other punishment could be worse than that......it just goes to show how wrong the use of drugs of any kind really are.”
by GingerRog, Bristol
Saturday, November 15 2008, 3:26PM
“Is there anywhere else you want to post your stupid comment? Me, Bristol?”
by Me, Bristol
Saturday, November 15 2008, 3:09PM
“For proof that people do come on these boards just to stir and wind people up take a look at this thread on the Evening Post forum -
EVEN MORE DISAPPEARING COMMENTS TODAY!!
Ginger Roger and Shelley (Knackered Mum) and Mike B Tut Tut!!”
by Grahame, Central Bristol
Saturday, November 15 2008, 1:41PM
“@ GingerRog
I believe she was known to a number of agencies. At the time of her conviction Ian McDowell, chairman of the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board, said ¿There is no evidence that people had information to show that the baby was at risk of harm,¿ before concluding "...Rio's death was ¿clearly avoidable¿. On the face of it, that's a bit of a platitude, but people like Sabrina Ross are accidents waiting to happen - and sometimes they do.
I think the problem lies in policy on when to take children into protective care. Agencies will rightly say they do everything they can to keep families together and support them. Yet nobody in their right mind would consider for a second that a drug-addled prostitute would make a fit mother or be able to provide a safe and secure environment suitable for raising children! But what can they do? The size of the underclass is so large, drink and drugs abuse so prevalent, the cost of lowering the barrier to protective care must be off the scale. In short, it's far cheaper to keep a child with a dysfunctional mother - and keep your fingers crossed.
Sadly, this'll happen again and again. The resources needed if the State were to step in as a surrogate parent aren't available, and existing policies and resources aren't adequate. Until we put child protection before the mother's interests, and have a public prepared to back it with hard cash, children will continue to be at risk from chaotic parents. We, the public, need to stop thinking we have some sort of 'right' to have children by virtue of biology, and start thinking we have no such 'right' unless we're also responsibile enough to care for them. The problem here though is that we'd have to start getting judgemental as a society and perhaps this would be politically impossible. Just my opinion. :-)”
by george, bristol
Saturday, November 15 2008, 11:47AM
“gingerrog... he was probably on the list of socials services uno the list that declares the child is safe and in the small print it says yup there guna die oh well we tried eh?”
by GingerRog, Bristol
Saturday, November 15 2008, 10:25AM
“Does anyone know whether Social Services were involved for the protection of the child?”
by Jon, Bristol
Friday, November 14 2008, 6:21PM
“Isn't this manslaughter?
It's only not nurder due to the grounds of diminished responsibility...”
by george, bristol
Friday, November 14 2008, 5:48PM
“i hope she rots in hell and burns for all eternity!!!! sick vile disgusting thing!!!!!!!!!”
by Josie, Bristol
Friday, November 14 2008, 3:54PM
“No child deserves to suffer just because of someones selfish addiction to drugs. I agree with Richard that this child should have been taken away as soon as it was born, there was no chance this poor child would ever had the chance to lead a happy life. Again, another failure by those who jobs it is to protect innocent children who are at risk.
5 years is nothing and I hope this 'person' will one day realise what she has done and will have to live with it for the rest of her life.”