Stephen Angell and Laura Stevenson neglected three-month-old baby son and exposed him to drugs before his death

A couple who neglected their baby son in the months before his tragic death are facing jail.

Stephen Angell, 44, and Laura Stevenson, 46, subjected Stephen Angell jnr to harrowing mistreatment before he passed away aged three months.

A probe revealed the pair had caused unnecessary suffering and exposed him to the risk of ingesting drugs.

A milk bottle found in the couple’s home was tested and a trace of diazepam was discovered.

Medics ruled his death as ‘undetermined’ but social work records showed concerns had been raised about his care while he was still alive.

Angell and Stevenson, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, denied any wrongdoing and went on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court where a jury convicted them of wilful neglect between August and November 2018.

The court heard a drunk Stevenson had left her son with a woman who was disabled and ‘morbidly obese’ and had gone to bed.

Stephen jnr was later discovered soaked in urine in the woman’s arms by her horrified daughter.

Dr Adrienne Sullivan told the trial she examined baby Stephen in October 2018 amid concerns over weight gain.

She said his hands, feet and armpits were dirty, he had long nails and a smell of body odour was coming from him which was ‘unusual’.

She had concerns about nutrition after he gained 100g in three days under medical supervision but was struggling to gain weight at home.

In evidence, Dr Sullivan said: “There has been a failure to provide Stephen with adequate nutrition to provide the adequate gain that you would expect from a child who is being bottle fed.

“If you don’t get enough to eat then you don’t have enough building blocks to grow, you don’t have the building blocks for your brain to develop.

“You can smile and watch but would not have the protein to build up muscle.

“I recommended the health visitor monitor him very closely.”

The trial heard a report from health visitor Ann-Marie Hamilton had raised concerns over Stephen’s welfare.

In the report, she wrote: “Health visitor continues to have concern that parents are not meeting Stephen jnr’s nutritional needs.

“He still appears hungry following a feed but parents don’t appear responsive to this.”

Professor Charlotte Wright told the court Stephen jnr was ‘exceptionally thin’ when she examined him.

During one exchange, the parents of baby Stephen were advised to increase the amount of baby formula they were feeding him but callous Angell replied: “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Depute fiscal John Coogan told jurors the presence of drugs in a baby bottle summed up the case against the pair.

He said: “The presence of diazepam inside the bottle presents an utterly compelling picture that baby Stephen was exposed to the risk of ingesting drugs and that is against a background of both accused being told of the importance of a sterile bottle.

“You can be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the crimes were committed and that they were committed by both accused.”

Defence lawyers claimed Angell and Stevenson had been let down by health care professionals and were being scapegoated.

George Gebbie, defending Angell, said: “On the evidence Stephen Angell did not neglect his young son and, if anything, he was crying out for help.

“He was desperate for the health care professionals to give him the right advice and it seems that from the evidence they just wouldn’t listen.”

Stephen Hughes, defending Stevenson, said: “This is not a woman who did not care about her child, she had three months with the child and it was a difficult time trying to get the baby to feed but is now accused of deliberately neglecting and abandoning her child but the evidence points in a different direction, please acquit her.”

Sheriff Colin Dunipace deferred sentence on the pair until July for reports and continued bail.

He warned: “Please be under no illusion that this is an extremely serious matter which you have both been found guilty of and the court will be considering all options.”