A woman accused of causing the death of her infant son was caught lying to police about the fact that she had been out snorting drugs on the morning her baby died, a jury has heard.
Amy Beck, 32, is on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen facing charges that she exposed 13-week-old Olly-James to the party drugs M-cat and MDMA, resulting in them entering his bloodstream prior to his death.
She is also accused of wilfully neglecting two other children who were also found with drugs in their system.
Beck additionally faces one charge of dealing M-cat and a further charge of having cocaine in her possession.
She denies all the charges against her.
Beck lied during first police statement
On the third day of the trial, jurors heard from detective Marie Buckley, who stated that Beck provided her with a false police statement following Olly-James’ death.
Despite signing the initial statement to confirm it was factual, Beck then provided a second version when confronted by Detective Constable Buckley with evidence that she had left her home in the dead of night to take drugs.
Beck then admitted that she had left her home and gotten a lift to a house in Fraserburgh, where she took a line of cocaine upon entry.
She said she neglected to mention this to the police because Olly-James had been left with her 14-year-old brother when her then-partner drove to Fraserburgh to collect her.
On Monday, Beck’s former friend Olivia Guntrip had earlier told the court that Beck had arrived to supply M-cat to someone at the property.
Guntrip also told the court that Beck had asked her to lie to the police after Olly-James had died.
Beck and Guntrip then returned to Beck’s house in Sandhaven later on December 22 2019, with her infant son becoming unresponsive soon after.
Olly-James was rushed by air ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he died later that day.
Jurors also heard from a doctor who took part in the baby’s autopsy who said she believed the fact that M-Cat was found in the child’s system contributed to his premature death.
Forensic pathologist Dr Tamara McNamee told the court that she “cannot fathom” how the illicit party drug that was found in the child’s bloodstream has not contributed Olly-James’ death.
The main cause of death on the autopsy report was listed as peritonitis, which can be caused due to a rupture of the bowel, with mephedrone (M-cat) exposure listed as a secondary cause.
Dr McNamee said: “He was a three-month-old child with a failure to thrive and a significant natural disease and I do believe that is the component that has tipped him over the edge in this circumstance.”
“The component being?’ advocate depute Erin Campbell asked.
“The Mephedrone exposure,” she replied.
M-cat exposure described as ‘not helpful’ to newborn baby
However, this evidence was in contrast to that of her colleague Dr Peter Brown, who led the autopsy.
He said that while he believed that M-cat exposure could result in “severe effects” and could be a “co-factor in the death of this baby” he refused to be drawn on whether it was main cause of death.
He said he believed the main cause of the infant’s death to be peritonitis, adding that the presence of M-cat within the child’s system was “of concern” and “was not helpful” to the baby.
During cross-examination by Beck’s defence advocate David Moggach, Dr Brown said that the level of harm to a baby or infant from mephedrone was “extremely difficult to be sure about”.
“I think it’s very difficult to be sure what the effects would have been,” before adding: “I would imagine it would at the very least cause irritability if it was one dose.”
Dr Brown continued: “But the possibility of it causing intoxication or death, I don’t think that can be substantiated.”
The trial, before Judge Fiona Tait, continues.
