Nurse who poisoned young boy with laxatives has jail sentence cut

A former NHS worker who poisoned a child with 'industrial amounts' of laxative had her seven-year jail term cut yesterday by appeal judges.

Tracy Menhinick was found guilty of wilfully harming the youngster earlier this year after a 19-day trial at the High Court in Aberdeen.

But lawyers acting for the former auxiliary nurse, 52, challenged the sentence imposed on her at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh arguing it was 'excessive'.

And the appeal judges agreed despite admitting the harm caused to the victim was high.

Lord Doherty, sitting with Lord Matthews, said: 'We allow the appeal, quash the sentence of seven years' imprisonment and substitute five years imprisonment.'

They explained they took into account that until she committed the offence, Menhinick had led 'a pro social life' albeit seriously affected by her own mental health problems.

And her physical and mental health issues also meant prison confinement would be more of a punishment for her.

Defence counsel Frances Connor said that because of the seriousness of the offence she was not arguing a custodial sentence was inappropriate.

But she said that a lesser jail time could be imposed to allow Menhinick to return to the community and 'try to re-establish some life for herself'.

She said: 'It is a very rare offence, linked to compulsive behaviour that is little understood.'

Menhinick was convicted of wilfully ill-treating the child by feeding him with laxatives which resulted in unnecessary operations and treatment which left him disfigured and impaired and in danger of his life.

The offences were said to have taken place over a three-year period from 2014 when the boy was between three and six in Aberdeen, the city's children's hospital and elsewhere.

But the court heard that once he was removed from her care he made rapid progress with his health and development, although he was left with severe scarring.

The trial judge, Lady Drummond, told Menhinick: 'You deliberately ill-treated him and made him unwell. He became so unwell he was repeatedly admitted to hospital.

'One of the doctors who gave evidence in this case described him as being emaciated on his last admission to hospital.

'You had been an auxiliary nurse and knew what you were doing. You caused him to be in that state.

'He had to undergo intrusive and risky operations which you knew were unnecessary and that the need for them had been caused by you.

'Why anybody would want to inflict such severe harm and suffering, endangering the life of a young child on multiple occasions over a period of years is beyond understanding.'

In a psychiatrist's opinion. Menhinick suffered from mental disorders. The case also pointed to Munchausen's syndrome by proxy, a condition in which a person seeks medical attention for another for symptoms that are falsified, exaggerated or deliberately induced.