GLASGOW WOMAN JAILED FOR NEGLECTING BABY TO 'CONCENTRATION CAMP' CONDITION
A WOMAN whose lack of care left a baby looking like "a child from a concentration camp" has been jailed for 20 months.Donna McKeown's failure to look after the little girl resulted in her weighing just half what she should have done.
The eight-month-old, who was described by a shocked health visitor as a "bag of bones", weighed just 8lbs.
She was also suffering from the MRSA bug and scabies.
It was only after intensive treatment by doctors that the baby managed to recover.
McKeown later claimed she did not know how badly affected the child was.
Sheriff Michael O'Grady QC described it as the "worst case" of neglect he had seen.
He said: "The consequences for this child were horrifying.
The fact remains that for a significant period this poor child must have been in considerable distress.
"I find it difficult to comprehend that you were unaware." McKeown broke down in tears as she was led to the cells to start her sentence.
Glasgow Sheriff Court was told the 26-year-old regularly looked after the child at her home in the Dalmarnock area of Glasgow.
The baby's plight came to light after a health visitor made a "cold call" at the house.
Mark McGuire, prosecuting, said the health visitor had her taken to hospital, adding: "One doctor said she was like a concentration camp child." After a fortnight in hospital she weighed a healthier 10lbs, was feeding properly, and her skin complaints had cleared.
McKeown admitted to a charge of wilful neglect when she first appeared at court last October.
She had told a psychiatrist: "My mind was a blur at the time - if only I had realised that something was wrong." Gerry Carroll, defending, told the court: "The view was formed that she functioned intellectually at a low level."
