Baby's excessive sodium levels 'impossible to explain'

Marianne Williams walked free earlier today after being cleared of giving her baby a fatal salt overdose
13 April 2012

Young mother Marianne Williams was cleared of poisoning her seriously-ill son with salt today after the jury heard specialist doctors admit it was impossible to say how he came to have excessive levels of sodium in his system.

The 24-year-old always adamantly but calmly defended her innocence throughout the six-week murder trial at Winchester Crown Court.

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• Mother cleared of poisoning son with salt

The prosecution alleged that Williams, of Wiltshire, who was taking anti-depressants, could not cope with the care of 15-month-old Joshua Taylor leading her to murder him.

But the prosecution's chief experts, a consultant responsible for the child's day-to-day care and a national expert in the field of paediatrics, were unable to show any "smoking gun" evidence which pointed at Miss Williams.

Miss Williams, originally from Wales, was 21 when Joshua died and in a long-term relationship with his father, Paul Taylor.

Joshua was born 12 weeks prematurely by Caesarean on November 26, 2002. His twin had died in the womb.

Joshua weighed 2lb 10oz (1.2kg) at birth and had a number of medical problems including very small kidneys. The trial heard that because Joshua's kidneys were failing, they would expel too much sodium.

He was given daily dosages of sodium chloride to replenish his salt levels, which was necessary for a "healthy existence" and "healthy growth".

In early February 2004, Joshua was taken to Southampton General Hospital in a seriously ill condition suffering from very high salt levels.

He slowly recovered and was released home on February 23. But the next morning he was admitted to the hospital once again in a serious condition, again with high salt levels.

But doctors, led by consultant Dr Rodney Gilbert, gave him drugs to treat him for dehydration which also contained salt.

And during the trial, Dr Gilbert admitted using an equation for adults, aged between 27 and 90, when calculating what drugs to use to bring down sodium levels in the body. He said that he now understood the equation was not designed for the use of children.

He also admitted that glucose and urine tests were not carried out which could have given a clearer indication of Joshua's salt levels.

The youngster was to die three days later in hospital of brain damage brought on by hypernatraemia - abnormally high levels of sodium in the blood.

Expert prosecution witness Professor George Haycock admitted during the trial that it was impossible to say whether Joshua's high salt levels had occurred before he was brought to hospital on February 24 or while he was being treated there.

The trial heard that Dr Gilbert raised the suspicion that Joshua may have been deliberately poisoned and police raided Miss Williams's home the same day.

Detectives investigating the case also bugged the family home but gained no evidence from the covert operation, the trial was told.

Detective Inspector Matt Johnson, of Wiltshire Police, said: "At each stage of the case, the decision was made that there was a case to answer.

"I would like to say that from the very start we felt very sorry for Marianne Williams. She has obviously undergone a terrible trial and she has lost her child."

A spokeswoman for Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust declined to comment after the trial.

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