Heroin addict mum who allowed asthmatic son to die alone gasping for air jailed for 20 years

Heroin addict mum who allowed asthmatic son to die alone gasping for air jailed for 20 years
Ben Chapman

By Ben Chapman


Published: 28/04/2022

- 11:45

Updated: 28/04/2022

- 11:49

Laura Heath deliberately 'prioritised her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine' prior to the 'needless, premature' death of Hakeem Hussain from an asthma attack

Heroin addict Laura Heath has been jailed for 20 years at Coventry Crown Court for the gross negligence manslaughter of her asthmatic seven-year-old son Hakeem Hussain, who was found dead in a garden in Birmingham in 2017.

Laura Heath deliberately “prioritised her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine” prior to the “needless, premature” death of Hakeem Hussain from an asthma attack on Sunday November 26 2017, prosecutors said.


Seven-year-old Hakeem Hussaine was found dead in a garden in 2017.
Seven-year-old Hakeem Hussaine was found dead in a garden in 2017.
West Midlands Police

An image seen by jurors during the Coventry Crown Court trial showed how Heath had even used foil and an elastic band to rig one of her son’s blue inhalers to smoke crack, fuelling a £55-a-day habit.

Heath, formerly of Long Acre, Nechells, Birmingham, was convicted on Friday of gross negligence manslaughter of “frail” Hakeem, who died at the home of a friend where his mother had been staying.

This is a breaking story, more to follow.

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