Mum Lisa Hayden-Johnson jailed for ’torturing’ healthy son
Posted by Sys Admin on January 23rd, 2010 | Category: Abusive Women child abuse Female child abuse mother abusing child mother neglecting child
A "SADISTIC" mother has been jailed in England for subjecting her healthy son to "24 hour-a-day torture" by pretending he was severely ill to gain publicity and cash.
- By David Williams, Sky News Online
- From: NewsCore
- January 23, 2010
The mother-of-two conned charities out of dream holidays and donations and secured meetings with royalty, celebrities and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
She even successfully lobbied for her son - who she falsely claimed suffered from cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and dysphagia among a litany of illnesses - to receive a Child of Courage Award in 2005.
The 35-year-old was jailed for three years and three months at Exeter Crown Court, having previously admitted child cruelty and perverting the course of justice.
Prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane said Hayden-Johnson "organised, orchestrated and ensured a regime of medical, physiological and psychological mistreatment amounting to 24 hour-a-day torture that touched on every aspect of his young vulnerable life".
She frequently described her son "as the most ill child in Britain", the lawyer told the court.
He continued: "As a result of her sadistic fabrication of non-existent symptoms, the defendant achieved much publicity and national attention, including an encounter with royalty and the then prime minister."
Hayden-Johnson subjected the child to a total of 325 medical encounters, during which he was subjected to a series of "physical intrusions and interventions", Mr Macfarlane said.
These included blood tests, intravenous treatments and a gastrostomy, and he was fed through a tube and confined to a wheelchair. He still believed he was seriously ill, more than two years after his ordeal ended, Mr Macfarlane said.
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