Biddlesden mum jailed for killing baby with paracetamol

Ellie Jacobs, 19, was jailed for five years for killing her five-week-old son

A mother has been jailed for killing her five-week-old son with an overdose of paracetamol.

Ellie Jacobs, 19, gave birth to her son, Archie, while she was living on a caravan site at Biddlesden, near Buckingham, on 28 April 2020, when she was 16 years old.

She admitted manslaughter after crushed paracetamol pills were added to her son's bottle. He died on 5 June 2020.

Jacobs was sentenced at Luton Crown Court to five years in prison.

She had denied charges of murder at the start of her trial at the same court earlier this month but her guilty plea to manslaughter was accepted by prosecutor Jane Bickerstaff KC.

Jacobs, now of Moor Road, Rushden, Northamptonshire, also admitted child cruelty later.

The court previously heard when Archie's body was examined it was found he had two sets of fractures - one to his right tibia and four to the big toe of his right foot.

They were caused three to seven days before his death.

Ellie Jacobs was sentenced at Luton Crown Court

Ms Bickertstaff said Jacobs' partner moved out just before Archie's birth and the baby had been placed on a Child Protection Plan.

The court heard the defendant's' mother, Sarah Jacobs, also lived on the caravan site and supported her daughter and grandson but she was killed in a road crash on 10 May 2020.

Ms Bickerstaff KC said Jacobs, now , received offers from family and family friends for her and Archie to live with them but she declined.

She also refused assistance from social services to stay at a mother and baby unit.

'Tragic case'

Jacobs had regular contact with a social worker, a nurse and midwife but as Archie was born during the first Covid lockdown, some of the contact was via videocall.

The police found a diary in the caravan in which Jacobs had written, less than two weeks before Archie's death: "I don't know how much longer I can keep up this act of being OK.

"I don't even know what it feels like to be OK anymore. I don't think I will ever feel that again."

Det Ch Insp Will Crowther, of Thames Valley Police, described it as an "absolutely tragic case".

He said: "Ellie Jacobs has admitted causing Archie's broken leg and foot in the days prior to his death, as well as admitting that she administered the large paracetamol overdose that caused his death.

"This has been a long investigation that has always sought to find the truth as to what happened to baby Archie and I am glad that during the trial Ellie Jacobs finally accepted responsibility for her dreadful actions.

"I am hoping that the fact that Ellie Jacobs has now pleaded guilty and been sentenced, it will help the rest of Archie's family to begin to move forward following this unbearable period for them."

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