Mum killed son with drug-laced juice, jury finds
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A mother killed her eight-year-old son by poisoning him with blackcurrant juice laced with her drug addiction medication, a jury has found.
Louise Cameron, 41, killed her son Rhys in a murder suicide attempt at their home in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, in September last year, Teesside Crown Court heard.
She was charged with murder but was unfit to enter a plea or stand trial. However, a jury which heard the details of the case against her agreed she had carried out the acts she was accused of.
Cameron, who made repeated confessions saying she wanted to "die together" with her son, is being held at a secure psychiatric hospital and will be sentenced on 18 June.
It can now be reported Cameron was assessed by two psychiatrists before the trial began and found to have a psychotic illness, "most probably schizophrenia" but possibly schizoaffective disorder.
After several months of treatment at a secure hospital she remained "floridly psychotic" with "persecutory delusions" and auditory and visual hallucinations, the court heard.
Mrs Justice Williams KC said she was "satisfied" Cameron was not fit to plead or stand trial and there was no prospect that would change in the foreseeable future.
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Jurors had heard Rhys was born prematurely and had mobility issues and learning difficulties, while Cameron was a single mother in contact with social services.
Rhys was found dead in his mother's bed by concerned relatives on 15 September, two days after he was last seen in public, the court heard.
Cameron had taken a drugs overdose and given her son blackcurrant juice laced with her medication and powerful painkillers, the court was told.
She left a note for her family in which she said she had poisoned her son and was "not dying without" him.
She also made numerous comments to police officers, including she wanted to "die together" with her son and had not wanted to stab or drown him, the court heard.
The judge thanked jurors for their efforts in what had been a "distressing" case.
She said Cameron was "currently in hospital" and she would consider medical evidence before passing sentence.
Cameron may attend the hearing by videolink, as she did for parts of the trial, the court heard.
The judge also expressed her "commiserations" to Cameron's family and paid "tribute to them".
