Mother accused of giving daughter sedatives to have sex with boyfriend

Four-year-old Poppy Widdison had been given drugs including sedatives, heroin, methadone and ketamine for a period of up to six months before her death, Hull Crown Court heard

Handout file photo issued by Humberside Police of Poppy Widdison (PA)

A mother accused of plying her daughter with sedatives so she could have sex with her boyfriend has admitted “putting heroin over her” but insisted she loved her child.

Michala Pyke has denied cruelty and causing four-year-old Poppy Widdison unnecessary suffering before she died in June 2013.

The four-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest at her mother’s then boyfriend’s "squalid" home in Grimsby.

Tests found that she had ingested a variety of drugs for a period of up to six months before her death, including sedatives, heroin, methadone and ketamine. Hull Crown Court heard she was told that blue diazepam tablets “Smarties”.

Pyke, who was branded an “utterly, utterly selfish human being by the prosecution”, said she suspected her ex-boyfriend, John Rytting, of feeding the blue tablets to her daughter but did not report him to police.

“I loved her", she said. "You can't take that away from me. She was perfect. I loved her but sometimes I loved drugs as well. I loved her but I just messed up badly."

She added: "The least I can do is tell the truth. She deserved better than a mum like me. She was my little Pickle.”

A post-mortem examination could not establish a cause of death but toxicology tests carried out on her blood and hair found various drugs and showed the young girl had been exposed to and had ingested significant amounts of heroin and methadone for a period of between two and six months before her death.

The drugs did not contribute to Poppy's death but experts agreed there was a "long period of ill-treatment and neglect by the grossly inappropriate administration of various drugs to the child by the defendants" the court hear.

Police later found more than 1,000 tablets of controlled drugs in Rytting’s “squalid” flat.

The court heard how Pyke had texted Rytting to get “them blue Smarties ready, the ones she likes”.

The prosecution argued that this referred to the diazepam tablets they used to sedate her and get her out of the way while they had sex.

Cross-examining Pyke, prosecutor David Gordon why she did not report her suspicions about Rytting and Poppy’s tongue being “all blue” from diazepam.

He accused her of “telling a different story every single time” and “seeking to avoid blame”.

He said: “You sedated your little child, both of you. You thought it was a huge lark.”

The 37-year-old said “with hindsight” she should have realised what was happening and protected her daughter but denied “quite deliberately” sedating her so they could live a quieter life.

The trial continues.