Mother who left baby son to die alone at home later sold his clothes on Facebook

A mother who left her baby to die at home while she ran errands later sold her dead child’s clothes on Facebook.

Stacey Davis, 35, left one-year-old Ethan in his cot with a fractured skull while she went shopping.

Last week she was jailed at Salisbury Crown Court for one count of child cruelty.

It has now emerged that following Ethan’s death in 2018 Davis listed his possessions and clothes for sale on Facebook.

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She sold a Little Man’s Savings money box for just £5, as well as a bundle of baby clothes aged 3-6 months and two sleep suits.

The court heard how Davis, of Melksham Wiltshire, left her baby abandoned at home alone on a day where temperatures reached 27C. He was trapped in a warm room and there were no windows open.

Davis – who regularly smoked cannabis around her son – went out to get her car washed, do some shopping, and visit a local park, then began texting a friend when she returned to the property.

She failed to check on him for at least another 30 minutes, before discovering him lifeless in his cot. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

A post-mortem examination found a significant head injury – a 15cm skull fracture – but the child's cause of death remains unascertained.

Davis had told police that her son had fallen and hit his head but despite the swelling, bruising and obvious distress, she hadn't taken him to hospital.

Describing Davis' behaviour as "thoroughly selfish", Judge Parkes KC imposed a two-year immediate prison sentence, of which she will serve half in custody.

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He said it was "particularly appalling" that Davis did not check on the toddler for three hours.

"You sat on a bench at one point, and you took [a child] to the park and went to a shop," he said. "You had taken your car to the car wash on way back. It is reasonably clear you weren’t in a hurry.

"There is no evidence you or his father caused Ethan's death, no suggestion you did so. The sad fact is that you fell very seriously short of the duty owed to Ethan as his mother. You failed to seek medical attention for the injury to his head.

"Any normal parent would put the child’s health before anything."