Mum who killed her baby by spiking his bottle with painkillers is jailed

A teenage mum who poisoned her baby son by spiking his bottle with paracetamol has been jailed.

Ellie Jacobs, 19, admitted the manslaughter of Archie Jacobs at Biddlesden near Buckingham on 3 June 2020, just weeks after the death of her own mother in car crash.

Luton Crown Court was told that crushed-up paracetamol tablets were added to the youngster's bottle when he was just 38 days old, and he was discovered to have fractures to his leg and toes.

Jacobs, now of Rushden in Northamptonshire, had denied charges of murder and child cruelty but later admitted manslaughter and child cruelty. She had previously only admitted adding a pinch of paracetamol.

She was jailed on Wednesday for five years.

Archie's death came just weeks after Jacobs' mother Sarah was killed when her boyfriend, Christopher Mattin, a banned driver, crashed his car on 10 May. He was later jailed.

Ellie Jacobs had been living with her mother on a caravan site in Biddlesden, but her partner moved out before the birth and the baby was put on a child protection plan, said prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC.

She added: "Following the death of her mother, Ellie Jacobs received offers from family friends, and from family, for herself and Archie to live with them, but she declined and also declined assistance from social services to go and stay at a mother and baby unit and she remained living at the caravan with Archie.“

She had regular contact with a social worker, the nurse, and the midwife but, as Archie was born during the first Covid lockdown, some of the contact was via videocall, the court heard.

A social worker conducted weekly visits, despite the pandemic, and noted that the caravan was clean but cluttered with a lot of animals.

The police found a diary in the caravan in which Jacobs, less than two weeks before Archie’s death, had written: ”I don't know how much longer I can keep up this act of being ok. I don't even know what it feels like to be ok anymore. I don't think I will ever feel that again."

She wrote that she felt she had lost everything, "even my home which is crazy because I have a roof over my head but this place just doesn't feel like home. I don't know where home is anymore.

“My home was always where my mum was. As long as I had my mum I was ok.“

She continued on: “I hate every single second I spend on this earth without her. It doesn't feel real, I wish this was all a nightmare and that soon I am going to wake up with my life back with my mum by my side because I am seriously starting to struggle with everything.

"I hate myself so much because every time I look over at Archie I feel absolutely nothing.

"When he cries I just don't care, and when Kelly my neighbour takes him off my hands for a couple of hours to give me a break, I deep down hope for that break to never end.

“I don't know if it's right but when I am away from Archie I don't miss him at all, I just feel a weight lifted from my shoulders."

An examination of the bottle suggested six crushed tablets had been added to it.

When questioned, Jacobs said she had only added a “pinch” of paracetamol to the bottle.Det Ch Insp Will Crowther of the major crime unit said: “This is a very sad case, where a five-week-old boy lost his life.

“I am pleased that Ellie Jacobs finally accepted responsibility for causing Archie’s death and for the significant injuries to Archie which he received in the days leading up to his death.

“I am hoping this guilty plea will help the rest of Archie’s family move forward following these tragic circumstances.”

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