Did a mother (35) from Zevenbergen deliberately kill her child with her own medicines? Or did her son (11) steal those heavy medicines from his mother and take them himself? This crucial question is before the court in Breda this week. On Monday, another 12 years in prison and TBS with compulsory treatment were demanded against the mother. On Wednesday, her lawyers argued that the boy stole medicine and took it himself.
A psychologist has determined that the woman from Zevenbergen has the Münchausen-by-proxy syndrome. She would have made her child look sicker than it really was.
“Perpetrators may be extremely afraid of losing their child,” says the Netherlands Youth Institute (NJI) on his site. “As a result, they exaggerate symptoms and signals. Perpetrators want to ensure that their (false) beliefs that the child is ill are confirmed. Perpetrators sometimes also hope that they will receive attention themselves. Due to the child’s illness, perpetrators can play a close caring role in the child’s life.”
Different impression
According to his mother, the boy was all wrong. She said he had ADHD, couldn’t eat solid food properly, and he was still not potty trained. He was also often in a wheelchair and lived mainly on tube feeding. School was too hard for him, so he only went for three days and also to a lower level. The boy was watched all day by the mother and stepfather, even with cameras.
The mythyl school, the guest house where the child went to for a weekend every month and the biological father had a completely different impression. At school and with his father, he often did not need the wheelchair and simply walked and played football. Outdoors, he had no seizures and did not wet his pants, several witnesses said. He also often ate ordinary food.
Bad taste
But has she gone so far as to give her son her heavy medication? Justice thinks so. The footage from the boy’s bedroom on February 12, 2020 shows how the mother injects various liquids into the feeding tube and gives him two suppositories.
The images show how the boy keeps falling away, then screams again or tells his mother ‘it’s not fun anymore’. His sister also reports that her brother is not conscious. The boy also says that he has a bad taste in his mouth. According to experts, this is the result of one of the heavy drugs.
According to the judiciary, these were morphine suppositories, sleeping pills and anti-depressants that were dissolved in water. This cocktail of heavy drugs eventually caused the boy’s heart to give out. The next morning he lay lifeless in his bed. CPR was of no avail.
‘Not clearly visible’
The woman’s lawyers argued on Wednesday that it is not clear at all that the woman administered the medication. According to them, the boy may also have taken the medicines from the drawer where the medicines were or from his mother’s bag. He would then have taken it himself at school or on the bus home.
Furthermore, the defense thought it was going very far that the school had already mentioned the Münchausen-by-proxy syndrome a few times. The mother acted completely in line with her child’s needs, it was argued. The school’s suggestion was labeled by the lawyers as a gut feeling or gut feeling.
Extra time
The lawyers do not think a prison sentence is suitable for the woman because she is struggling with her health. They also do not think forced treatment is necessary.
The court will take an extra week to consider this special case. Normally, the court makes a decision after two weeks, now only after three. “This case is not an everyday one,” said the chairman. “We’re taking our time.”
The verdict is on July 13.
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