Dead Inverness boy's mother admits neglecting him

Amanda Hardie did not arrange childcare while she was at work or visiting her boyfriend, the court heard

A woman whose two-year-old son was found dead at a flat in Inverness has admitted to neglecting the boy over a five-month period.

Clyde Campbell died in his bed on 23 February 2014. Inverness Sheriff Court heard the cause was cot death.

His mother Amanda Hardie, 30, who now lives in East Kilbride, has pleaded guilty to neglecting him and exposing him to unnecessary suffering.

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood deferred sentence for a background report.

The court heard that medical enquiries established "no clinical basis" to link the neglect to Clyde's death.

Hardie pleaded guilty to wilfully ill-treating, abandoning, neglecting and exposing the child to unnecessary suffering or injury in her flat in Inverness between 1 October 2013 and 23 February 2014.

'Cleaning fluid'

The charge went on to say she left him for prolonged periods and in particular during the hours of darkness whilst unattended and without adult supervision.

The court was told that Hardie often left Clyde in the flat when she went out to work at an Inverness nightclub until the early hours, or was seeing her boyfriend.

Fiscal Roderick Urquhart gave details of days leading up to Clyde's death, including the weekend of 15 and 16 February.

He said: "A neighbour states that over that weekend, while the accused was out at work, she passed the accused's flat in the evening and heard Clyde Campbell crying and repeatedly asking for his mum. She knocked on the door, but no-one answered and the crying stopped.

"On 19 February, Hardie found Clyde in the kitchen with a bottle of cleaning fluid, some of which had been spilt on his clothing. She took him to the Accident and Emergency Department of Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, to be checked. There was no indication he had swallowed the cleaning fluid and he was discharged."

Inverness Sheriff Court heard that the boy was left for prolonged periods after dark

Mr Urquhart also told of occasions when Hardie made no arrangements for childcare.

The fiscal said there had been concern about Clyde later in the day of 23 February and neighbours went round to the flat.

He said: "One of them saw that Clyde was lying lifeless in his bed and he contacted the emergency services. He struggled to perform CPR until ambulance staff arrived a short time later and they formally confirmed the child was dead at 15:11.

"Realising that something had happened, another neighbour contacted Hardie via Facebook and told her she had to return home as something was wrong."

Hardie was at her boyfriend's home at the time.

She eventually picked up the message and later told police there was no babysitter looking after Clyde.