Mother, 30, facing jail for poisoning her one-year-old daughter by putting painkiller Tramadol into bottles of her breast milk - then trying to blame the toddler's father

A drug addict mother-of-five is facing jail today for poisoning her one-year-old daughter by putting a powerful painkiller in her breast milk. Rose Jones admitted repeatedly putting high doses of Tramadol into the toddler's milk, before lying and attempting to frame her innocent ex-partner.

The 30-year-old is due to be sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court today and faces jail after a judge described her actions as 'worse than violence'.

 

The court heard Jones was herself addicted to Tramadol at the time of the offences, when her youngest children were aged one and two. Prosecutor Jo Martin said the toddler was hospitalised several times after suffering fits, but doctors could not figure out what was wrong.

She said: 'The staff had woken to the possibility that she had taken some drugs and they wondered whether this was a case of induced fabricated illness by means of poisoning.

'What was absolutely clear was Tramadol was being given to her during that time she was being admitted in and out of hospital.'

Jones was later arrested and police seized two milk bottles containing significant doses of the drug.

Ms Martin said there were no metabolites in the milk, meaning it could not have come from breastfeeding.

When she was first interviewed by police, Jones denied the claim that she had poisoned her own daughter.

Her children were taken into care and Jones began an attempt to cover her tracks.

She showed police text messages which she claim incriminated her former partner, Shane Cruickshank.

She said he threatened to blow up her house; poured petrol through her letterbox and set it alight; and sent someone to stab her in the stomach.

Mr Cruickshank was arrested but was later exonerated after hair samples taken from the younger girl showed Tramadol had been in her system for at least six months.

Jones finally admitted child cruelty and perverting the course of justice ahead of her trial last month.

Evidence emerged that Jones' two-year-old daughter also had Tramadol in her system, but she denied this and the charges will lie on file.

Prosecutors say they may never know the reason behind Jones' crimes and Judge Ian Lawrie QC said it goes far beyond normal child cruelty cases.

He said: 'What we have here is not violence in its traditional sense, but it many ways it is perhaps worse.

'It is the administration of poison over a length of time; there is an element of persistence and almost calculation about this.'

Prosecutor Ms Martin added: 'It is so hard to know why Rose Jones did this. One inference is she was doing it because of her addiction, that she could not help herself.

'Another inference is she was deliberately poisoning her child to seek sympathy and finance from the authorities.'

Rose Jones' former partner, Shane Cruickshank, says her false allegations have left him 'scarred for life'.

Jones perverted the course of justice by accusing Mr Cruickshank of poisoning their young daughter and telling police he threatened to blow up her house.

The couple's children were taken into care by social services before Mr Cruickshank was exonerated.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Cruickshank told how his life has changed since he was placed under suspicion.

Prosecutor Jo Martin said: 'He describes the loss of his children, the fact he now only has supervised contact, and how stressful it has been having to live apart from them.

'There will always be an element of 'no smoke without fire'.'

In the statement, Mr Cruickshank said: 'She has ripped my life apart and caused me no end of stress.

'Words can't describe the pain Rose has caused me, I feel I will be scarred for life because of her.'