Social Services were unaware of a dad's £100-a-week cannabis use and saw him as the "capable parent" to baby Hunter White who fell down the side of a settee and died. Nottingham Crown Court heard the tragic background surrounding the death of 18-day-old Hunter who was in the care of dad, Adam White, who smoked cannabis every day.
A seven-day-a-week working plumber, who was in demand during lockdown, Adam White fell asleep on the sofa and Hunter was facedown and unable to breathe. Despite a social worker visiting the day before Hunter's death and describing him as seeming, "happy, healthy and properly looked after", the same social worker knew about the extent of mum Terri Walters's drug use, the court heard.
Walters, 32, of Kingsway Gardens, Hucknall, had even admitted using drugs on various occasions during her pregnancy. The former couple, both parents to Hunter who was born on June 26, 2020, and died on July 10, 2020, were "habitual drug users", said Luke Blackburn, prosecuting, on Monday, May 23.
READ MORE: Parents of Hunter White appear in court
Walters largely used cocaine, and White used cannabis. By July 2020, the pair were sleeping in separate rooms, and each of them knew the extent of the others drugs habits.
"Social Services knew the extent of Terri Walters drug use but not Adam White's, and that is a substantial part of the reason that Hunter was allowed to be cared for by them, as Adam White was seen as the capable parent; capable of looking after Hunter", said Mr Blackburn.
Walters went to bed alone that night, whilst White, 45, of Foxhill Road East, Carlton, slept with Hunter on the sofa. His dad was under the influence of cannabis and failed to place him in his moses basket after his second feed. Adam White rang an ambulance at 5.25am.
Police and paramedics attended but tragically Hunter was declared dead at 5.40am. Hunter died due to a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain, the court had previously heard.
White's mobile phone showed he regularly bought cannabis. A cup of cannabis cigarettes was found on the windowsill of the bedroom Walters occupied.
Blood tests showed White, who has since been diagnosed with sleep apnea, had cannabis in his system. Walters had cocaine and cannabis in hers.
In one police interview Walters said she had done nothing wrong. She had cocaine on the Sunday and "dipped her finger in it on the Thursday, the day before his death," explained Mr Blackburn. She accepted she smoked cannabis the same day of his death.
The former couple both pleaded guilty to cruelty to a child and will be sentenced on Thursday, May 26. Explaining their roles, the court heard Walters had cocaine and cannabis in her system whilst jointly caring for Hunter - drugs which were likely to affect her judgement. She allowed him to be cared for by White when she knew about his daily cannabis use.
Chair of the Nottinghamshire Safeguarding Children Partnership, Rosa Waddingham, had previously said: “Following the sad death of Hunter, the partnership carried out a child safeguarding practice review and we would expect to publish the findings after all connected legal proceedings and any inquest have been completed.”
To read all the biggest and best stories first sign up to read our newsletters here.
