I'm no baby killer

Sadie died aged only 19 months after drinking some of her mother Fiona's heroin substitute methadone.

On Friday, August 26, 2005, Fiona Milson, pregnant again, walked free from court, despite admitting manslaughter. After her sentence she told the Evening Press: "I am just glad someone has believed me. I am just pleased that I have been redeemed."

THE drug addict mother of a little girl who died after drinking a heroin substitute told a court she would "serve a life sentence in her head" for what happened.

Sadie Milson died in her sleep after drinking her mother Fiona's methadone.

Yesterday, a Fiona Milson, who is pregnant, walked free from Leeds Crown Court after admitting manslaughter through gross negligence.

After she was given a two-year community rehabilitation order, Milson, 33, expressed gratitude to the judge for not jailing her, saying: "I'm glad someone actually believes me."

Earlier, a letter from Milson was read to the court. It described her torment at the loss of 19-month-old Sadie, saying she would "never forgive herself".

On March 10, 2004, the night before Sadie died in her sleep, it is thought she picked up one of Milson's bottles from the kitchen table of her grandmother's home in Almond Tree Avenue, Malton, where she and her mother were living.

Judge Norman Jones QC said he accepted that Milson had not knowingly administered drugs to her daughter, and said: "The responsibility for what you did is going to impinge on your heart until the day you die."

Milson was kept out of prison for the sake of her unborn child, but the court heard there was the possibility she would not be allowed to keep it.

The court heard that the defendant began taking drugs at the age of 19, and subsequently made many attempts to rid herself of the habit. She began getting her life in order after Sadie was born.

Milson returned from Leeds to her family home in Malton, and sought regular treatment at the Compass drugs centre in Priory Street, York, to tackle her addiction. She was given a two-week prescription of 20 milligrams of methadone. But Milson found coming off methadone harder than coming off heroin, and in March 2003 began stockpiling it from legal and illegal sources.

For a brief period, Milson went to live with her boyfriend, Stuart Davidson, at High Hutton, near Malton.

Geoffrey Marson QC, defending, said the couple kept methadone in a secure cupboard well out of Sadie's reach.

The prosecution suggested Milson fed her daughter tiny amounts of methadone on at least two occasions between October 2003 and the time of her death.

But Mr Marson said defence experts believed traces of the heroin substitute found in Sadie's hair may have been transferred from Milson when she hugged her daughter.

Milson returned to the home of her mother, Sylvia, in November 2003 when her relationship went through a bad patch and her drug problems increased. Mr Marson said: "Sadie must have had access to methadone, or at least a teaspoon full of it, on the evening of March 10, either from a sports bottle, or from a child-proof bottle which was kept in a place which was not appropriate and was negligent."

He said that there was no suitable cupboard at Sylvia's house, and for the two weeks Milson was there she left her drugs on the kitchen table.

Nicholas Campbell, prosecuting, said Milson became addicted to heroin at the age of 24 and had previous convictions for dishonesty and violence dating back to 1992.

On March 1, 1999, she was convicted of supplying heroin after she was caught passing a wrap to a friend in York city centre. She was found in possession of 17 wraps of heroin and a large amount of money and was put on probation for 12 months.

Milson had previously been in prison for up to four months, but had not been before the courts during Sadie's short life.

After the hearing, Detective Superintendent Lewis Raw said there were no records of any other cases in which children had died after drinking methadone.

Officers consulted drugs experts from other forces and carried out a full scientific inquiry in their attempts to understand what happened to the little girl.

Extract from Milson's letter

"I WILL never forgive myself for being so stupid and irresponsible for letting her come into contact with my medication. I know I'm responsible for her death. I will always blame and torture myself. No matter how long I'm sentenced to in prison, I will serve a longer sentence in my head.

"I will never forget the way she looked that morning. I loved my daughter. I made one tragic mistake and I will live with this for the rest of my life. It may not seem like it, but I'm a responsible mother."

Why was tragic toddler Sadie not on the 'At Risk' register?

HER mother was a convicted heroin dealer who served time in jail and was on a methadone programme. Today, questions remained about why tragic toddler Sadie Milson was not protected by the authorities.

Little Sadie died at the age of only 19 months in March last year after she overdosed on her mother's heroin substitute.

Yesterday, Fiona Milson was sentenced to two years' community rehabilitation for manslaughter through gross negligence after a court heard how her daughter would have died less than an hour after taking the lethal substance.

Today, nearly 18 months after her death, the North Yorkshire Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC), which launched an investigation in the wake of the Sadie tragedy, still could not say why she was not on the "At Risk" register designed to protect vulnerable children.

The committee, comprising representatives of the police, North Yorkshire County Council social services, the Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale Primary Care Trust and the local education authority, is yet to publish the findings of its Part 8 review - an investigation which examines the roles of all authorities after a "sudden infant death".

In response to Milson's sentence, Derek Law, chair of the ACPC, said: "The ACPC's responsibility is to ensure that any lessons learned from such a tragic death as Sadie's are identified and turned into actions for the protection of other children in North Yorkshire.

"Today's judgement allows the ACPC to complete its review of this case, the outcome of which will be made public in the usual manner."

However, when specifically asked why Sadie had not been on the At Risk register, a spokesman for the committee said: "We will not say anything more than is in the statement."

When asked when the report would be published, the spokesman again refused to answer, saying "We have made our statement".

Updated: 12:11 Saturday, August 27, 2005