Mother 'did not bond' with baby

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A mother who allegedly murdered her baby son by poisoning him with table salt had shown signs of not bonding with her child, a court has heard.

Marianne Williams' son Joshua was taken to hospital in 2004 in a seriously ill condition and died three days later.

Nurses at Southampton General Hospital had raised concerns about her attitude towards the 16-month-old boy, Dr Rowena Thorne told Winchester Crown Court.

Ms Williams, of Wilts, denies murder and an alternative manslaughter charge.

Dr Thorne, a specialist registrar, told the jury that nurses at the nephrology unit had suggested that Ms Williams and her partner Paul Taylor did not spend long periods of time with Joshua.

'Salt overdose'

She said: "At times the visits seemed to be quite short and the parents had not taken much physical care but on other occasions they stayed much longer and undertook all of his care."

She also said in a statement to police: "There was a feeling amongst the staff that there didn't seem to be much physical interaction with Joshua when they visited."

Joshua had medical problems and needed daily medication

Michael Topolski QC, defending, told the court that Ms Williams had complained of staff "badmouthing" and criticising her care of Joshua.

He said a member of the nursing staff regularly contacted the couple's health visitor to tell them that they did not spend enough time with Joshua.

Mr Topolski also said that Ms Williams had herself informed her health visitor that she feared she was not bonding with her son.

The prosecution claims Ms Williams killed Joshua by poisoning him with sodium, mainly in the form of table salt.

Small kidneys

Richard Smith QC, earlier told the jury that tests showed the boy had very high levels of sodium in his body.

"The evidence leads to a sad but inevitable conclusion that this defendant, Marianne Williams, administered that sodium to cause her son's death."

He also said that Ms Williams was on medication at the time of her son's death and had admitted to police she had "had enough" and "didn't want Joshua to come home, couldn't cope with his problems".

The court earlier heard that when Joshua was born he weighed only 2lb 10oz (1.2kg) and had a number of medical problems.

His very small kidneys meant he found it difficult to conserve enough sodium in his system.

He was medicated with sodium chloride almost every day to restore his body's natural balance, the court heard.

The case continues.