Skip to content

Judge 'horrified' by seven-year insulin case delay

Phil ShepkaCambridgeshire
News imageBBC A picture of a busy, four-lane road with a number of cars and a lorry on it, in front of Cambridge Crown Court. The court is a large light-coloured, curved brick building. There is an extra level on the roof, with windows surrounded by grey cladding. There are trees either side of the building and there are shops further along the road to the left of the picture.BBC
The woman was given an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years

A judge has said it was "frankly horrifying" that a case involving a mother who injected her daughter with insulin, took more than seven years to reach court.

At Cambridge Crown Court on Friday, the woman from Cambridgeshire, who is in her 20s and has a history of mental health issues, admitted administering a poison or noxious substance with intent.

The offence took place in 2019, and Judge Philip Grey said while he had the "highest respect for the work done" by Cambridgeshire Police, the delay had "no place in a functioning criminal justice system in a modern democracy".

The woman was given an 18-month jail term, suspended for two years. Police agreed the delay in the case was "unacceptable".

The court heard the woman had injected her then 16-month-old daughter with insulin, leading to a hospital admission, before she injected her twice more in hospital.

The girl made a full recovery.

In sentencing, Judge Grey said the force did "an enormous amount of good" and that he regularly formally commended officers.

But he said it was "frankly horrifying that it took over seven years to bring this case to court".

"Judges are regrettably becoming used to this, but this is off the scale," he said.

He claimed there was an "unacceptable lack of grip" in the police investigation, during which the court heard a number of officers went off on long-term sick, which he said any "competent" organisation should be able to deal with.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: "We acknowledge and agree with the judge's comments that the delay in this case was unacceptable. Our aim is to ensure that all cases progress with the timeliness required for victims, families, and the wider criminal justice process.

"We are committed to preventing this kind of delay happening again and last year brought in changes to ensure complex cases receive the supervisory oversight and continuity of investigation that this case lacked."

Do you have a story suggestion for Cambridgeshire? Contact us below.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.