Riley Pettipierre had "ingested drugs in the months leading to his death"

TRACES of drugs found in a two-year-old boy's hair were likely to have been ingested by the toddler in at least the last four months of his life, a court has heard.

The hair tests were from Riley Pettipierre who died after allegedly drinking his mother's methadone.

His parents Sally Dent, 32, and Shaun Binfield, 44, both of Kilbourne Road, Belper, are accused of the manslaughter of their son and cruelty to a person under the age of 16.

Consultant forensic toxicologist Julie Evans told the trial at Nottingham Crown Court that quantities of heroin, methadone and cocaine were found in a hair sample that represented a minimum of the last four months of the child's life.

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She said the amounts revealed by the tests indicated the drugs had been through the his body rather than deposited on his hair.

She also told the court that the amounts of drugs ingested, indicated by the levels of the substances in his hair, would have been "capable of causing a reaction within the body".

The trial continues.