'Selfish' mother who killed her 20-month-old son by doping him to make him sleep is jailed for 6 yrs

A 'selfish' mother killed her 20-month-old son by drugging him with painkillers to 'make her life easier', a court heard today.
Laura-Jane Vestuto, 28, crushed up pills into son Renzo's milk and orange juice to stop him crying over several months.
The former childminder had been prescribed amitriptyline by her GP as a pain reliever.
But she stockpiled the drugs and began giving them to Renzo, finally killing him with a dose ten times the safe adult dose. Hospital staff were shocked by her lack of concern when medics tried in vain to revive her son. She later denied giving him drugs in three separate interviews and tried to pin the blame on innocent members of her family.
Her partner and Renzo's father, Yilmaz Hassan, a baker, was initially arrested and held in custody and her own mother was interviewed under police caution.
But Vestuto later admitted she had drugged the child while Mr Hassan a baker, was at work or asleep. On September 9, 2007, Renzo awoke screaming and fighting for breath.
Vestuto raised the alarm with Mr Hassan but when emergency services arrived the baby was grey, had no pulse and was not breathing, He was rushed to the Homerton hospital in Hackney, east London but pronounced dead soon afterwards.
The mother 'surprised others by showing little emotion' at the hospital, the court heard.
Members of Renzo's family - who packed the public gallery yesterday - paid tribute to the little boy yesterday.
Renzo's aunt, Christina Atouguia, wrote on a memorial website: 'He was such a beautiful baby with the biggest, cheekiest smile and laugh and the most beautiful lips.
'Our family have experienced such heartache and emotions that we never thought we would ever have to feel or even existed.
'The pain we are feeling today is just as raw as it was the day he passed away.'
Another aunt, Sevim Hassan, wrote: 'My nephew parted from us suddenly. Only God knows why under such traumatic circumstances....
Doctors also found traces of paracetamol, Ibuprofen and diphenhydramine in the child's system after death.

Judge Peter Thornton QC said Vestuto had drugged her son in order to keep him quiet, make him sleep, calm him and 'make life easier' for herself.

'Instead of bearing the everyday responsibility of being a parent, caring lovingly for your son, even when he was tired or troublesome you embarked on a deliberate course of administering adult drugs knowing it was wrong and risky,' he said.
'You gave the drugs for purely selfish, self-centred reasons thinking only for yourself and not the welfare of the children. This is all the more obvious because you had previously worked with children.'
He added: 'You denied all knowledge of the drug, even when told that Renzo had high levels in his system,' continued the judge.
'These denials were repeated in police interviews. As a result of your denials your long-term partner, the father, who is entirely innocent of any involvement in these offences was arrested and placed in custody.
'You compounded his suffering and grief at the death of hid child by allowing the finger of blame to be pointed wrongly at him and indeed other members of the family who also fell under suspicion.
The judge added: 'I have read your ex-partner's impact statement.
'His is a moving account of how he has lost his partner and one child to the cemetery. The family have suffered and will continue to suffer.
Vestuto, described as having below-average level of intelligence, was initially charged with manslaughter.
But her plea to the lesser charge of causing or allowing Renzo's death was accepted on the basis she 'did not intend to harm' her son.
Amitriptyline was widely prescribed as an anti-depressant and for pain relief in the 1970s and 1980s. It was also used to prevent bed wetting in older children.
Vestuto, of Hackney, east London, admitted causing the death of a child between August 1 2007 and September 2, 2007.