Hakeem Hussain: Jury retires in trial of mother accused of fatally neglecting her son

A jury has retired to consider verdicts in the trial of a mother accused of fatally neglecting her severely asthmatic seven-year-old son, found dead in a garden without his inhalers.

Hakeem Hussain was found dead in the garden of a Birmingham house on November 26, 2017.

It is alleged his mum, Laura Heath was asleep, having smoked heroin, on the night Hakeem suffered a fatal asthma attack, Coventry Crown Court heard.

Laura Heath, 39, has admitted four counts of child cruelty but denies manslaughter.

Prosecutors have said Laura Heath deliberately “prioritised her addiction to heroin and crack cocaine” prior to the “preventable” death of Hakeem Hussain from an asthma attack. She has declined to give evidence.

Crown counsel Matthew Brook opened the case saying the death happened after Hakeem had been repeatedly absent from school and had experienced three emergency admissions to hospital.

Defence QC Isabella Forshall, making her closing speech to the jury on Tuesday, April 19, stated Hakeem's death was the 'very last thing she wanted to happen'.

She said: "She is not just a hopeless mum, she was also a loving mum. That's worth remembering. She is not a woman who lacks love for her child."