'Playful, cheeky' toddler died after accidentally consuming her drug-dealing father's cocaine in family home

A 'playful and cheeky' toddler died after accidentally consuming cocaine which had been brought into the family home by her drug-dealing father, a court has heard.

The three-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died in hospital in April 2019 after being admitted with suspected sepsis or meningitis.

Post-mortem and toxicology results indicated that the child, identified only as 'K', had died from a cardiac arrest consistent with her having ingested cocaine. 

Now a High Court has ruled that K died after ingesting the illegal Class-A substance, which was brought into her home by her father as a result of his 'drug-related activities'.

The evidence was heard after the youngster's parents tried to blame each other for the child's death in proceedings brought by their local authority - who are now responsible for K's siblings.

A separate criminal investigation, led by The Met Police, was also launched following K's death - although the ruling did not say whether anyone has yet been charged. 

In the High Court, Judge Mr Justice Williams, who heard evidence over 24 days between April and July this year, said the drug was 'carelessly left in such a way and in such a quantity as to be ingested by K'.

A High Court judge has ruled that the child died after ingesting the illegal Class-A substance, which was brought into her home by her father as a result of his 'drug-related activities'

He described K's death as 'needless' and 'avoidable' 

The judge said the mother's description of her daughter's final moments was 'harrowing... even for the most hardened legal professional', adding that K woke in the morning, put her arm around her mother and collapsed as 'her heart gave out from the damage it suffered'.

He said: 'That represents a desperate tragedy. For K a playful, cheeky and loving little girl with all of her life to live.

'For her siblings who struggled to comprehend her death, who will grow up without her and whose lives will no doubt carry with them the shadow of her death.

'For her wider family including her grandmothers who loved her dearly; the paternal grandmother's account of her distress when she arrived at the hospital after K's death is vivid and real.

'For her father who for all his flaws I have no doubt loved her deeply. And for her mother who not only adored her but who in so many respects was a good and nurturing parent and whose children were the centre of her world.'

In addition to his findings about the father, the judge also concluded K's mother was 'well aware' he was bringing cocaine into her home and processing it there.

He said she 'did not do anything effective to prevent this', through the complex nature of her relationship with the father and her own recreational drug taking, rather than through fear of the father.

In the High Court, Judge Mr Justice Williams , who heard evidence over 24 days between April and July this year, said the drug was 'carelessly left in such a way and in such a quantity as to be ingested by K'

He added: 'Given her generally protective nature in relation to the children it seems most probable that she turned a blind eye or persuaded herself that sufficient precautions were being taken to protect the children.

'This was to kid herself. Given the nature of father, it was a risk that any reasonable person ought to have identified and taken steps to actively protect the children from.'

He concluded that the paternal grandmother bore 'some indirect responsibility in that she was the head of a family who were steeped in class A drug misuse and had been for many years', but was not directly responsible for K's cocaine ingestion.

The local authority previously accepted that the maternal grandmother played no role whatsoever in K's cocaine ingestion, and she was removed from proceedings.

He he said: 'Insofar as blame or responsibility can and needs to be attributed, I have made my findings.

'It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the history of each of the responsible adults formed the people that they were on and leading up to the (day of K's death) and shaped their behaviours.

'Thus, whilst father bears primary responsibility, the mother secondary and the paternal grandmother a more diffuse responsibility they are not one-dimensional 'bad' characters.'

At the conclusion of his judgment, Mr Justice Williams also said the incident should provide 'a lesson of the perils of drug misuse'.

He added: 'I have little doubt that adults, young people and children will continue to die from the deliberate and inadvertent ingestion of illicit drugs.

'The complacency that accompanies frequent misuse is perhaps one of the biggest problems.

'Whether this family is able to learn from this tragedy remains to be seen. I hope they and others do.'