poledriver
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AUS - Man gave baby morphine, but it was an accident
A MAN with a workplace injury has been acquitted of poisoning an infant with a potentially lethal dose of morphine to guarantee a good night's sleep.
Graham Andrew Wilson, 41, of Elizabeth South, has been found not guilty of endangering life by a District Court jury.
Prosecutor Jeff Powell had alleged that, on January 8, 2007, Mr Wilson had recklessly caused harm to the four-month-old daughter of his then-girlfriend.
He said Mr Wilson had been prescribed morphine capsules, for his workplace injury, that released the painkiller slowly over several hours.
He alleged Mr Wilson put a potentially lethal dose of the drug in a bottle he prepared for the little girl, whose life was saved by quick-thinking hospital staff.
Mr Powell told jurors Mr Wilson's actions derived from ignorance, not malice.
"It's not the prosecution case that Wilson intended for the baby's life to be endangered, " he said.
"The reality may be as simple as he just wanted to get a good night's sleep, and did something stupid, so stupid in the extreme that it amounted to criminal neglect."
Nicholas Healy, for Mr Wilson, said that was highly unlikely given his client's experience with the drug.
"He knew, full well, the likely consequences of giving a tiny baby morphine in any dose," he said.
"So what's the likelihood of someone with his experience thinking "oh well, I'll just give her some morphine to send her to sleep so I get a good night's sleep'?"
Mr Healy said Mr Wilson accepted he must have put the drug in the bottle, but insisted it was an accident.
His client, he said, had no memory of the incident.
After deliberations, the jury of four men and eight women found Mr Wilson not guilty.
http://www.news.com.au/national/father-aquitted-of-morphine-poisoning/story-e6frfkvr-1226408911842
A MAN with a workplace injury has been acquitted of poisoning an infant with a potentially lethal dose of morphine to guarantee a good night's sleep.
Graham Andrew Wilson, 41, of Elizabeth South, has been found not guilty of endangering life by a District Court jury.
Prosecutor Jeff Powell had alleged that, on January 8, 2007, Mr Wilson had recklessly caused harm to the four-month-old daughter of his then-girlfriend.
He said Mr Wilson had been prescribed morphine capsules, for his workplace injury, that released the painkiller slowly over several hours.
He alleged Mr Wilson put a potentially lethal dose of the drug in a bottle he prepared for the little girl, whose life was saved by quick-thinking hospital staff.
Mr Powell told jurors Mr Wilson's actions derived from ignorance, not malice.
"It's not the prosecution case that Wilson intended for the baby's life to be endangered, " he said.
"The reality may be as simple as he just wanted to get a good night's sleep, and did something stupid, so stupid in the extreme that it amounted to criminal neglect."
Nicholas Healy, for Mr Wilson, said that was highly unlikely given his client's experience with the drug.
"He knew, full well, the likely consequences of giving a tiny baby morphine in any dose," he said.
"So what's the likelihood of someone with his experience thinking "oh well, I'll just give her some morphine to send her to sleep so I get a good night's sleep'?"
Mr Healy said Mr Wilson accepted he must have put the drug in the bottle, but insisted it was an accident.
His client, he said, had no memory of the incident.
After deliberations, the jury of four men and eight women found Mr Wilson not guilty.
http://www.news.com.au/national/father-aquitted-of-morphine-poisoning/story-e6frfkvr-1226408911842
