Laura Docherty guilty of trying to murder toddler by giving her adult medication

A woman has been found guilty of trying to murder a toddler by repeatedly giving her adult medication.

Laura Docherty's actions were branded "utterly wicked" by a judge.

A court heard how Docherty, 35, gave the girl antidepressant and painkilling drugs from the age of two, resulting in her needing to be resuscitated and placed on a ventilator.

Docherty, formerly of Glenrothes in Fife, denied any wrongdoing but was on Tuesday convicted of attempted murder following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Judge Michael O'Grady KC said the evidence was "deeply troubling and truly shocking".

He acknowledged Docherty's "troubled and unhappy life", adding: "No doubt at least some of that will not be of your making."

But he told the defendant: "It is difficult to see that anything could adequately explain or justify what you have done to the child.

"Whatever your own trials and tribulations, whatever the turmoil in your own life, what you did to her was utterly wicked."

Docherty carried out her crime against the child between April 2021 and February 2023 at an address in Edinburgh, at a ward at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, and elsewhere.

She assaulted and attempted to murder the girl by repeatedly administering drugs which were medications not prescribed for her.

As a result, the victim suffered seizures and episodes of reduced consciousness.

She had to be resuscitated, admitted to hospital, put on a ventilator, and was subjected to medical investigations and procedures.

Judge O'Grady stated: "It is impossible to forget the sight of a young child, who should have been in the flower of her childhood, prone in the back of an ambulance, desperately struggling to breathe, desperately struggling to hang on by a thread to life."

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The judge ordered a background report, noting: "Further, in the disturbing circumstances of this case, I consider I require some psychiatric assessment."

Docherty was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing.

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