Brooke Lucas jailed for feeding bleach to her seriously ill baby William

A Perth mother who poured bleach into her sick child’s feeding tube has been jailed, with a Supreme Court judge accepting it was “a cry for help”, but ruling it was too serious an offence for any other penalty.

In December 2018, Brooke Evelyn Lucas, 29, poured about 30mls of bleach into the milk that was being being fed through a tube into the small intestine of her then 13-month-old son William.

He was born prematurely and suffered from Pierre Robin Sequence, which meant he required around-the-clock care.

Lucas then sat with her son for about three hours before he woke up vomiting and having seizures.

Lucas called an ambulance but she told the paramedics her four-year-daughter was responsible for putting the bleach in his feeding tube.

About two weeks later, she went to her local police station and confessed what she had done, telling detectives she had wanted the child to settle and go to sleep.

She also said she needed a break and just wanted a good night’s sleep.

Lucas was originally charged with attempting to murder William, but she pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of committing an act likely to endanger his health and safety.

The court was told while William was initially very sick and treated in the intensive care unit, he would not have died from ingesting the bleach.

Judge accepts Lucas was suffering from mental health issues

Justice Joseph McGrath accepted that at the time, Lucas was suffering psychological issues, felt unsupported and was not coping.

“Your actions were a cry for help from an overwhelmed mother with significant mental health issues,” he told Lucas. 

“You reached a point where you did the unthinkable act of harming your child.

He also accepted that Lucas had not intended to endanger William’s life, but he described what she did as an “extremely dangerous act” and said it had caused “enormous grief for all involved.”

Justice McGrath imposed a jail sentence of two years and six months, telling Lucas: “In short, your offence was just too serious for the term to be suspended.”

Lucas will have to serve 15 months before she can be released—and with time already served, she will be eligible for parole in December next year.

Justice McGrath also imposed a lifetime restraining order, which bans Lucas from having any contact with her son.

The court was told she was not allowed to have any contact with her daughter either.