Tracy Menhinick, 52, poisoned her victim by intentionally giving him ‘industrial amounts’ of laxatives. 

The victim was a young boy, aged between 3 and 6 at the time of the offence. He was given such a large quantity of laxatives by Menhinick that he was hospitalised due to his failure to gain weight and his growth stopping. To try and fight these injuries, he was required to undergo multiple operations which the court heard left him with permanent disfigurements, impairments and endangered his life.

The victim was initially admitted into hospital in 2016 as there were concerns surrounding his weight but there was no suspicion that this was related to neglect and no evidence was found of Menhinick poisoning the child at that time.

Expert evidence was led by Dr Sullivan who stated, “It was beyond reasonable doubt that he had been administered significant quantities of lactulose.” She further confirmed that the child’s state would improve when Menhinick was no longer allowed to see the child.

The court heard over 5,500 pages of evidence and medical records before finding Menhinick guilty of the offence. 

Sentencing has been deferred. This was deemed necessary to allow for provisions to be made for Menhinick as she required to be fed through a tube.