'Wicked' Barrow woman repeatedly injected child with needles she had contaminated with human faeces

A "wicked" woman repeatedly injected a child with needles she had contaminated with human faeces.

Elizabeth Faragher, 43, was trusted to give the child - who cannot be named for legal reasons - medication for a condition they had been diagnosed with then they were young.

But, Faragher, from Barrow, deliberately soiled the needles before using them on numerous occasions in 2016 and 2017.

As a result of her cruelty, the youngster had "almost constant" admissions to hospital, where doctors carried out invasive tests, biopsies and operations to try and understand the condition.

The child has now been left with deep muscle scars and had to have corrective knee surgery, Preston Crown Court was told.

However a victim impact statement, prepared by a social worker, said they are now able to participate in swimming and sport.

Faragher, who pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding and five counts of administering a noxious substance, was jailed for five years and 10 months.

Sentencing her, Judge Simon Medland QC, said Faragher's offending was "a terrible catalogue of particular cruelty which had, at the time, grave consequences for the victim."

He added the child would have recovered from their original illness relatively quickly if Faragher had not ill-treated them.

"For almost the next three years they were repeatedly unwell", the judge said. "They were subject to many hospital visits, stays and interventions in numerous different hospitals across the country. There were biopsies, operations, pain and side effects."These arise from one particular reason: because you, repeatedly and on many occasions, injected them with hypodermic needles which you deliberately contaminated with human faeces. You must have been aware of the terrible consequences."Judge Medland accepted she was vulnerable following the death of her husband and was suffering from active alcoholism when she committed the offences.But he said: "This vulnerability in no way excuses your conduct towards this child, who was entitled to look to you for care."Rosalind Emslie-Smith, defending, said at the time of the offending, Faragher was struggling following the death of her husband. She was drinking a bottle of vodka or more a day.Before the death of her husband she appeared to be "entirely functional", working full time as a retail manager and participating in fundraising and community event.

Faragher has never explained her motivation for committing the offences but has started to access counselling and is now "calmer, less anxious and sober", Ms Emslie-Smith said.

Throughout the hearing, Faragher hung her head as she sat in the dock.

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