Hong Kong mother pleads guilty in death of baby found with drugs in system
Infant found dead with drug traces in system after woman left for 3 hours, court hears
A mother whose infant son was found with traces of methamphetamine and ketamine in his system left her baby alone for three hours and returned to find him dead, a District Court heard, as she pleaded guilty yesterday to ill-treating the boy.
Prosecutor Lam Shun-chiu said the drugs were found in the bloodstream and urine of 49-day-old Wong Lok-man during a postmortem probe.
The boy's mother, Candy Leung Hui-man, 32, also pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a dangerous drug, when police found a bag containing 0.12 gram of methamphetamine, better known as Ice, in the flat where she lived with Wong and his 1½-year-old brother.
But the exact cause of the child's death is still unknown, and Lam said it was unclear whether the drugs had anything to do with it.
He cited forensic pathologist Dr Chiao Wing-fu, who believed that the substances could have entered the infant's body through breastfeeding or inhaling second-hand Ice smoke.
"If the environment, including clothing, had been massively contaminated … the drugs could have been transferred from the environment to the child," Lam said.
Lam said paramedics had responded to the flat at Shek Lei Estate on May 23 last year, after Leung arrived home and called 999. They found the infant unconscious, with no breath and no heartbeat. He was declared dead at the Yan Chai Hospital later that night.
On the evening of the incident, Lam said Leung left the infant at home alone while she went out with her mother and Wong's brother to get food.
The court heard in mitigation that she had stopped at a park downstairs to chat with a friend about her abusive boyfriend, the father of the two younger boys. The boyfriend had called Leung before she went out with her mother, leaving her emotionally rattled, her lawyer said.
The court heard she initially told police she had stepped out of the shower to find her baby dead, but CCTV revealed that she had left home for at least three hours.
Leung got married when she was 16 and had another son, now 16, with her ex-husband, from whom she was divorced, the court heard in mitigation.
Judge Gary Lam Kar-yan adjourned the case to March 10 for sentencing.
