Mum Sally Dent says she would never give son, 2, drugs deliberately

A MOTHER whose two-year-old son died after drinking her methadone told a jury she would never have given him drugs deliberately.

Sally Dent and her partner, Shaun Binfield, found their son, Riley Pettipierre, lifeless on their bed at 10.30am on March 13 last year, after he drank methadone from a child's beaker.

The couple, of Kilbourne Road, Belper, deny manslaughter. Dent said she had left the beaker on top of a CD rack on top of a chest of drawers which she believed Riley could not reach.

Yesterday, Dent, 33, was asked if she had put methadone in the beaker because she intended to give it to Riley.

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Dent, who was giving evidence at Nottingham Crown Court, replied: "No. As God is my witness, now may he strike me dead.

"I would never have given my child anything – I wouldn't.

"I made a stupid, stupid mistake. It's only me who has got to live with that for the rest of my life."

The court previously heard that a sample of hair taken from Riley after he died showed he had ingested heroin, methadone and cocaine in the months before his death.

Yesterday, Dent said she was not careless about where she put her drugs.

Dent agreed with prosecutor Yvonne Coen that she was "a house-proud person" and vacuumed daily.

Ms Coen said: "This wasn't some drug-encrusted flat."

She added: "So you would agree Riley didn't go picking up drugs from every surface? He got it in his system some other way."

"Yes," replied Dent.

When asked if she had kissed Riley after taking methadone, Dent said: "I used to kiss him all the time."

Asked to explain how Riley had the drugs in his system, Dent said: "I don't know. I never ever, ever, ever, in a million years, gave my baby drugs on purpose."

Dent and Binfield also deny cruelty to a child under 16 – it is alleged Dent failed to keep Riley away from class A drugs.

The trial continues.