Mum fed toddler fatal cocktail of drugs before he could be taken into care

A mum fed her 14-month-old son a cocktail of prescription medications to kill him before he could be taken from her and placed in care.

Emma Barnett, of Debden, Essex, hid in her loft after a family court hearing on November 8, 2024, which had determined that her son Oakley should be removed.

The 36-year-old and her toddler were initially reported as missing and believed to have gone to Epping Forest, but officers later forced entry to Barnett’s home and found them in the loft.

Cambridge Crown Court heard she initially refused to let them see Oakley, saying he was sleeping but later confessed: ‘I have killed him.’

Earlier that day, social workers had been trying to locate Barnett and safeguard Oakley following a court hearing, with jurors told ‘the intention was to remove Oakley’.

Summing up the evidence, judge Mr Justice Sweeting said Barnett had parked her car at Epping Forest then walked back home.

He said Barnett later claimed in interview that she ‘wanted the police to think I was in the forest so I could stay indoors with Oakley’.

Barnett ’hid in the loft with Oakley’ and ‘later when police attended she initially refused to allow police to see Oakley’.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that evidence presented at court showed Barnett had prepared a bottle containing a mixture of milk and medication, which she gave to Oakley, causing his death.

The senior judge told jurors the defendant’s case was that Oakley’s death was accidental.

Summing up the defendant’s case to jurors, the judge continued that her case was that ‘she didn’t intentionally administer medication or intend serious harm or to kill him’.

‘Her intention was to take her own life but only at the point Oakley would be removed from her by police,’ the judge said, summing up Barnett’s defence case.

Barnett said that hiding in the loft ‘was to extend the time she had left with Oakley’, the judge said.

He said investigators found two baby bottles in the loft with liquids testing positive for an antihistamine, which can induce sedation, and an antidepressant.

The judge said an expert’s evidence was that ‘taken together their effects may be greater than either alone’ and they could cause ‘respiratory compromise’.

Nicola Pope, senior Crown prosecutor, said: ‘Emma Barnett deliberately gave her baby son a dangerous mixture containing medication which proved fatal.

‘Our prosecution case relied on a detailed and careful analysis of the evidence from the police investigation, including expert medical evidence, to establish how Oakley came to die.

‘I hope that today’s outcome provides some measure of peace to Oakley’s family and loved ones during this deeply upsetting time.’

Detective Inspector James Holmes of Essex Police said: ‘This was an extremely upsetting and difficult investigation for everybody involved.

‘Our thoughts remain with Oakley and everyone who loved him.’

Barnett is due to be sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on June 5.

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