The mother of a toddler who died as she spent the night with her new boyfriend broke down yesterday as she was jailed for child neglect.
Amanda Hardie left Clyde Campbell unattended and uncared for when she went to work in an Inverness nightclub.
At the end of her shift, instead of going home to the two-year-old, she went to stay with her new partner.
Hardie had gone out to work at 7.30pm on a Friday night in February 2014. Clyde was pronounced dead shortly after 3pm the next day.
He died from cot death and it emerged that Hardie, 31, had neglected him in the five months leading up to the tragedy.
Yesterday, she sobbed in the dock at Inverness Sheriff Court as she was jailed for 10 months.
Just before former model Hardie was led away in handcuffs, Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood said the sentence reflected the fact that she “placed her own desires, work and socialising” before the needs of her young son.
The sheriff said: “You are not being punished for Clyde’s death. I fully accept his death is not at your door.
“That a child should die is a magnification of the possible risks of leaving a child unattended. She has to take responsibility for that. This can only be dealt with by a custodial sentence.”
In March, Hardie admitted wilfully ill-treating, abandoning, neglecting and exposing Clyde to unnecessary suffering or injury in her flat at Mackintosh Road in the Highland capital between October 1, 2013 and February 23, 2014.
The charge against her also stated she left him for prolonged periods – particularly in the dark – unattended and without adult supervision.
Fiscal Roderick Urquhart said that a few days before Clyde’s death, Hardie had worked from 12.30pm one day until 3.30am the next at G’s nightclub.
In that time, a neighbour passed her flat and heard Clyde crying and repeatedly asking for his mum.
A few days later, Hardie found Clyde in the kitchen with a bottle of cleaning fluid, some of which had been spilt on his clothing.
She took him to Raigmore Hospital, but there was no indication he had swallowed the substance and he was discharged.
Two days later, Hardie confided in a colleague that she was struggling for childcare that weekend.
Without organising a babysitter, she worked a shift and went home afterwards with Ian Hill.
Mr Urquhart added that neighbours became concerned for Clyde, and went to the flat on February 23.
He said: “One of them saw that Clyde was lying lifeless in his bed and he contacted the emergency services.
“He struggled to perform CPR until ambulance staff arrived a short time later and formally confirmed the child was dead at 3.11pm.”
There was no clinical basis to link the neglect to his death.
Hardie, who has been staying at Penbrook, East Kilbride, sobbed as her counsel, advocate Lorenzo Alonzi, fought to keep her out of jail.
He said: “Clyde’s death will be an enduring source of torment for her.
“I accept if you leave children alone, you are taking a risk. But something unforeseeable happened here and that makes it all the more tragic.
“There is no clinical basis to link the neglect with the death. This is a matter causing her great distress and she is blaming herself and is always going to do so.
“There is a psychological background here. She was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2009.
“As a result of Clyde’s death, she now has post-traumatic stress. She had a difficult childhood and got involved in abusive relationships.
“Now she is in a new relationship for the past two-and-a-half years and they have a child together.”
Last night, Detective Chief Inspector Iain Smith, of Police Scotland’s major investigation team ,said: “This harrowing case understandably shocked and saddened communities across the city of Inverness and wider Highlands.
“Amanda Hardie had a duty of care towards her child which she chose to ignore, not only on the night of Clyde’s tragic death but on several other occasions.
“Officers and partners who dealt with the incident and carried out the subsequent investigation are to be commended for their efforts in bringing this sad case to a conclusion.
“Residents of MacIntosh Road and the community of Raigmore are to be thanked for their assistance and strength shown throughout the investigation.”
An NSPCC Scotland spokesman said: “Leaving children alone and unsupervised can result in them suffering serious harm and it is right that Amanda Hardie has been jailed for choosing to ignore her duty of care and neglecting her young son.
“This tragic case shows the importance of tackling neglect before problems spiral out of control.”
