Babysitter who poisoned two infant girls in her care jailed 7 years
SINGAPORE — A babysitter who fed two baby girls drugs while caring for them was sentenced to seven years’ jail on Monday (7 December).
Sa’adiah Jamari, 39, had babysat a five-month-old and an 11-month-old separately in end 2016. On a number of occasions, the parents of the babies found them to be in a drowsy state.
When these two babies were brought to the hospital for assessment, various drugs were found in their system.
Sa’adiah, a registered nurse since 2002, has filed an appeal against her conviction and sentence, and is out on bail. She had claimed trial in February to two charges of causing hurt by means of poison to the two babies and was found guilty by District Judge John Ng.
At the time of the offences, Sa’adiah worked as a freelance nurse and also provided babysitting and childcare services, which she advertised online, from her home. She stated that she was a nurse in her advertisements.
Sentencing the divorced mother of two teenage daughters, DJ Ng noted that the offence was a “grave one” with a sentencing of considerable length warranted. This would depend on several factors, such as the harm committed, the potential harm that could have been, the victim’s age and vulnerability, he said.
In Sa’adiah’s case, the key factors were the tender ages of the victims, he added.
“(They) were helpless babies totally dependent on their caregiver, (with a) lack of capacity to sense danger or detect and respond to hazardous (situations) and totally at the mercy of the accused.”
“There is no doubt that babies are the most vulnerable of vulnerable victims,” said DJ Ng.
The nature of the drugs Sa’adiah fed the babies also put their lives at risk and betrayed the high level of trust reposed in Sa’adiah by the babies’ mothers.
A highly deterrent overall sentence was needed to show “such injurious acts are reprehensible” and will be met with the appropriate punishment, added DJ Ng. The judge noted that Sa’adiah should not be given a sentencing discount given that she had not been cooperative with investigative agencies or shown remorse for her actions.
The judge agreed with the prosecution’s proposed sentence of seven years’ jail.
The victims’ mothers testified in court that their babies were normal when they were dropped off at Sa’adiah’s home, but that the girls were later found to be drowsy. Sa’adiah cared for the five-month-old on eight occasions in November and December 2016, and the 11-month-old on the night of 25 December 2016.
After the last babysitting session on 9 December 2016, the five-month-old’s mother brought her daughter to Parkway East Hospital when she noticed the baby’s unusual behaviour. The baby was admitted until 13 December 2016, during which doctors found her drowsy, floppy and unable to follow objects.
The older baby’s parents picked her up on 26 December 2016 and sent her to the hospital after finding her drowsy and cranky. She was unable to sit upright, had droopy eyelids and had difficulty walking.
Samples taken from the younger and older babies contained 10 and eight substances, respectively. These included alprazolam – a sleeping pill with a sedative effect – and chlorpheniramine, an anti-histamine used to treat allergies and may cause sleepiness, diazepam and zolpidem. All were classified as poisons by the Health Sciences Authority.
The babies were subsequently assessed to have fully recovered.
Sa’adiah had regular prescriptions for alprazolam, diazepam and zolpidem in November and December 2016 as she was prescribed the drugs at least once a week by Everhealth Medical Centre.
Evidence of the drug were also found in her home, including a milk bottle with traces of zolpidem, an empty slab of the same drug, and a full slab of chlorpheniramine, which she was given by her doctor friend for runny nose.
All the substances found in the victims had also been found in Sa’adiah’s own blood or urine samples taken in September 2016 – two to three months before the offences.
In mitigation for Sa’adiah, her lawyers Chua Eng Hui and Luo Ling Ling cited his client’s contribution to society as a nurse as relevant factors. The babies recovered without lasting effects and that his client suffered from major depressive disorder, which she was diagnosed with in 2012, the lawyers said.
On Sa’adiah’s depression, DJ Ng described it as a “non-starter” as there was no causal link shown between her disorder and her commission of the offences.
Chua and Luo also noted that Sa’adiah was only charged two years after the incidents.
“The inordinate delay in charging Madam Sa’adiah is attributed wholly to the prosecution and the inexcusable failure on the part of the police to pursue their investigations diligently,” said the lawyers.
“This piecemeal prosecution unnecessarily prolonged the mental anguish, anxiety and distress suffered by not only Madam Sa’adiah but also her two daughters...Sa’adiah’s case is a case which has attracted significant media attention, with at least 30 news articles written about her. Her images are plastered online, and she has had to endure the stigma and embarrassment from society occasioned by the inordinate delay.”
The lawyers sought two years’ jail for Sa’adiah.
However, the prosecution replied that while the investigation officer may not have recalled full details of the case, investigations were duly carried out.
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