THE mother of a toddler who drowned in his bath claimed she found her son dead after blacking out in the bathroom.
Kerry Abel, who is accused of two-year-old Riley Abel's manslaughter, told her trial after regaining consciousness she had tried to resuscitate her son after finding him floating in the bath while her partner called for an ambulance.
She told Sheffield Crown Court she hadn't intended on giving Riley a bath at her home in Orchard Park, Hull but turned on the taps to steam the bathroom to help with a cold he had.
But he insisted on having a bath so she ran him one.
She told the jury: "Riley really liked his baths and while I steamed the bathroom he kept asking for one.
"I hadn't intended to bathe him but I gave him one.
"I put in some cold water and put him in.
"After five minutes he asked for his toys so I left him for a couple of minutes and got his bathrobe and toys, a gun and a couple of figures."
Riley was found floating face down in the bath on January 4 last year.
He had drowned and was pronounced dead at Hull Royal Infirmary at 12.37am the following day.
Miss Abel, 38, was initially arrested at the hospital on suspicion of his murder, but was charged with manslaughter on November 29.
This morning, Miss Abel told the jury that, after playing with Riley, she stood up, felt faint and tried to grab the bathroom door.
The next thing she knew she came round in a daze and found Riley face down in the bath.
She scooped him up and called for her partner Andrew Lewis.
She tried to resuscitate him while Mr Lewis called the emergency services.
However, despite the efforts of paramedics and staff at the hospital he died.
Miss Abel, a former heroin addict, admitted after Riley's death that she had recently taken three drugs – the heroin substitute methadone, which was prescribed by her doctor, tramadol and a painkiller.
Tests of her blood and urine found she had taken six more – diazepam, temazepam, nitrazepam, heroin, cocaine and cannabis. The painkiller was found to be pregabalin.
The trial continues.
