UK: Woman jailed for injecting child with faeces has sentence increased

A woman jailed for injecting a child with faeces has had her prison sentence increased by the Court of Appeal.

Elizabeth Faragher, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, caused the youngster to suffer "extreme pain and distress" leaving the infant with "deep muscle scarring and multiple scars", the court was told.

In April, the 43-year-old admitted one count of cruelty to a person under 16 and five counts of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent.

She was jailed for five years and 10 months at Preston Crown Court in July but her sentence was increased to eight years on Friday after her case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

Lord Justice Edis, sitting with Mr Justice Dove and Mrs Justice Steyn, described the case as "difficult and distressing".

Nicholas Hearn, for the AGO, told the court Faragher's original sentence "did not reflect the cumulative seriousness of the offences" and was "unduly lenient".

A written reference from the AGO to the court said the child was often taken to see medical staff and found to be suffering from infections across their body with "faecal organisms" present.

Doctors "could not identify a medical explanation", and the youngster was forced to undergo "invasive" tests, including a notoriously painful bone marrow extraction.

Clinicians later realised the infections had been "induced" by Faragher injecting the child with "faecal matter".

Faragher joined Friday's hearing via video link, sitting with her head bowed and at no point explaining her actions.

'Deeply upsetting case'

Rosalind Emsley-Smith, representing Faragher, told the court there had been no error in the calculation of her sentence, as the trial judge had taken her "vulnerability and fragility" into account.

At the time of the offence Faragher would sometimes drink two bottles of vodka a day, and had struggled to cope with a bereavement, the court was told.

Lord Justice Edis concluded the sentencing judge was "led into error" when handing Faragher her "unduly lenient" jail term.

"We simply cannot describe this offence of cruelty as anything other than serious, indeed very serious," he said.

Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson said: "This was a deeply upsetting case of child cruelty and it was clear to me that Elizabeth Faragher's shocking actions warranted a stronger prison sentence.

"Today's verdict shows that all forms of cruelty to children will be met with the strongest possible punishment."