Mom Pours Bleach Down Baby’s Feeding Tube To Get Sleep, Watches As Son Vomits

An Australian woman poured bleach down her sick baby's feeding tube in late 2018 so she could get "a good night's sleep," a Perth court heard.

Brooke Evelyn Lucas' then-13-month-old son had been lying in his cot crying late into the evening at their Ellenbrook home in Perth in December 2018, 7News.com.au reported.

On that evening, the 26-year-old mother took a bottle of Exit Mould bathroom cleaner and poured some of the powerful cleaning grade chemical down her son's feeding tube.

The child, William, was born with Pierre Robin sequence, a rare congenital birth defect that can affect a child's ability to feed and breathe and required around-the-clock care, a report by ABC said.

Lucas poured around 30 milliliters (1 ounce) of bleach into her son’s formula and then drip-fed him down his feeding tube directly into his stomach because she "needed a break and a good night's sleep," the Supreme Court heard. She told police she felt "relieved and relaxed" at that moment.

Lucas then sat and watched as William vomited and suffered seizures, prosecutors said.

The boy's unnamed father later went to the room and noticed a strong smell of bleach before Lucas called an ambulance and told paramedics her 4-year-old daughter was responsible for what had happened, prosecutor Laura Christian told the high court.

William vomited 10 to 12 times in the ambulance and was hospitalized for 17 nights but survived.

Lucas went to the police station in the early hours of the morning two weeks later and turned herself in over the incident.

There was evidence she previously researched bleach poisoning on her phone, Christian said.

Lucas was initially charged with attempted murder, but she later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of endangering the life of her son.

Lawyer Karen Farley, who represented the mother, claimed her client had mental health issues that impaired her ability to make calm and rational choices at the time of the incident. Lucas did not intend to seriously harm her son and simply wanted him to go to sleep, Farley added.

The offense needed to be viewed in the context of a mother who was caring for a very sick child and felt she was not getting enough help, the lawyer claimed. "This was a cry for help, and that's precisely how the matter should be looked at," Farley was quoted as saying.

The lawyer said Lucas regretted what she did and has been punishing herself since the day of her offense, but she could not explain the reasoning behind her actions.

"The consequences of her actions have been extreme and continue to have an ongoing effect on this family. She has struggled to live with that," Farley told the court.

Lucas was prohibited from having any contact with her daughter and William, the lawyer explained.

Farley urged Justice McGrath to show compassion to Lucas and impose a suspended prison term, but prosecutors are seeking an immediate jail term.

Lucas initially blamed her daughter and also took almost two hours to call an ambulance to help William, Christian noted.

Justice McGrath will sentence Lucas, who is currently on bail, this Friday.

William is now "thriving" after becoming seriously ill from the incident, which would not have killed him, the court was told. He now lives with his grandparents.