Woman guilty of salt poisoning

Susan Hamilton denied the charges

A woman has been found guilty of endangering a young girl's life by poisoning her with salt.

A jury convicted Susan Hamilton of assault by a majority verdict after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The 38-year-old, of Broomhouse Street South, Edinburgh, denied the charges.

The court was told that the victim - who is now aged 11 - had a long history of illness.

At one time she had to be fed through a tube in her stomach.

The girl had been taken to the city's Royal Hospital for Sick Children on countless occasions.

Salt overdose

However, in March 2000 she was admitted in a serious condition after collapsing on the floor of her bathroom.

Doctors found high levels of sodium in her bloodstream.

They called in the police, believing that an overdose of salt must have been given deliberately.

The trial was held at the High Court in Edinburgh

The court was told that the girl suffered a stroke.

Despite life-saving treatment in hospital, she has been left permanently brain damaged.

As she remained gravely ill, a police search of Hamilton's home found a syringe. Tests revealed that its tip was encrusted with salt.

Hamilton repeatedly denied giving the girl an overdose.

A charge of attempted murder was dropped during the trial for legal reasons.

However, on Friday the jury decided she was guilty of administering what might have been a fatal dose of salt to the girl, who was aged eight at the time of the offence.

The prosecution had suggested that Hamilton was trying to fake an illness - a claim denied by her defence team.

The staff have realised that they need to identify these children at an earlier stage in their illness

Dr Charles Swainson
Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust

Lord Brodie called for background reports and deferred sentence for three weeks. Hamilton's bail was continued.

The case has prompted steps to improve hospital procedures.

The court heard that doctors accepted crucial tests were not done often enough.

Blood tests had revealed alarmingly high levels of sodium on 12 occasions.

Dr Charles Swainson, medical director at the Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "The staff have realised that they need to identify these children at an earlier stage in their illness.

"What they have put into place now is that any child who comes to the Sick Children's Hospital more than four times a year is going to be reviewed.

"The consultant is notified and reviews the case notes and, if necessary, will review the child and their parents."

Inspector John McMonagle of Lothian and Borders Police paid tribute to the work of his officers under what he described as very difficult circumstances.

"What this was, at the end of the day, was a systematic and prolonged episode of child abuse."