Horrifying details of tragic Wolverhampton boy's heroin death revealed

The 23-month-old boy is feared to have died after picking up and swallowing a wrap of heroin at the house he shared with his junkie parents in a leafy suburb.

Tests revealed that when Daniel – who was known to the city council and recieving multi-agency support – died, there was enough of the drug in his body to kill an adult.

Further examination of hair samples from Daniel disclosed he had suffered 'chronic exposure to cannabis and opiates' and 'occasional exposure to amphetamines and cocaine'.

It was not possible to say with certainty whether this cocktail of drugs had been ingested or picked up from the atmosphere, nor was it clear over what period of time that had happened.

What is certain is that the child died in the bed where he slept with his 34-year-old mother Emma Bradburn and father Simon Jones, 30, at their semi-detached home in Windsor Avenue, Penn.

There is evidence that his father had been smoking cannabis in the bedroom hours before the body was found.

A burnt piece of foil used for smoking heroin was discovered in a drawer on one side of the bed while a needle and spoon were lying in another drawer on the other side. Cannabis leaves were drying in a wardrobe 4ft from where the child slept.

Emma Bradburn admitted to police that she smoked heroin while her partner confessed to injecting the drug when he could not get his methadone prescription. Both were 'recovering' heroin addicts.

Officers found cannabis drying in other upstairs rooms at the house, including a spare bedroom in which the leaves were draped over a child's bucket. The parents insisted Daniel did not use this room because he always slept with them. Twenty cannabis plants were discovered growing in the loft. Experts estimated the crop would have been worth more than £3,000.

Bradburn maintained that she had not smoked cannabis in the bedroom with her partner the night before the body of the child was discovered. She also maintained she never smoked heroin or cannabis in front of the child.

She realised something was wrong when she woke shortly after 5.40am on May 29 last year in the bed in which the three of them slept 'topped and tailed' – the parents at one end and the child at the other.

She noticed that Daniel's hand was cold and he did not appear to be breathing. She later told police he had something like 'stale milk' in his mouth. She tried to resuscitate him while her partner phoned for an ambulance in a 999 call timed at 5.45am. Paramedics were at the house within five minutes but were unable to revive the child, who was pronounced dead at 6.16am after arrival at New Cross Hospital. Experts have been unable to give a precise time of death.

The child was sick before dying. The vomit contained a piece of cardboard that investigators believe had been a drug wrap. Forensic examination established it had the DNA of Daniel on it and so it could be linked to the child, although it could not be proved conclusively to have been swallowed by him because the cardboard could not be tested for saliva.

Similarly it could not be checked for traces of heroin. A pathologist gave the cause of death as a heroin overdose and concluded there was a sufficient amount of the drug in the child's system to have killed an adult with little or no tolerance to drugs.

With his guilty plea to manslaughter, Daniel's father has admitted responsibility for the heroin that inadvertently claimed the life of the child.

Bradburn has already admitted causing or allowing the death of her son. Her plea of not guilty to manslaughter has been accepted. The parents were arrested on suspicion of producing cannabis on the day the body of their son was found.

Officers conducted the inquiry sensitively. The recently bereaved couple were released on bail after questioning, and the death of their son was initially logged as 'unexplained' as the investigation continued.

They were detained again on December 12 after the results of toxicology tests revealed the part their drug-fuelled life had played in the death of Daniel.

Both have been in custody ever since – initially for their own safety. Bradburn was badly hurt in a car accident and now uses a wheelchair. She is understood to have received substantial damages which friends say was used to buy the upmarket house in Penn in which her son died. People living in the quiet cul-de-sac were stunned by the arrests, but shock soon turned to horror as more details of the tragedy emerged.

Next-door neighbour Mr Anthony Baker, 67, and his daughter Natalie, 38, said: "What has happened is devastating. He seemed a normal, happy, ordinary child. I used to have a laugh with him over the fence."

Pictures on the Facebook page of Jones showed happy family snaps, with the young boy laughing while playing on a park. Sadly, the reality of his final hours was very different.

Mrs Julia McSorley, the senior Crown Prosecutor who reviewed evidence and authorised the charging of the couple, said: "The parents' role is to protect and nurture their child. Instead the defendants exposed Daniel, a vulnerable 23-month-old child, to drugs. Sadly this ultimately resulted in his death. I worked closely with the prosecution team of police and lawyers who all worked extremely hard on this case. I believe we have achieved justice for Daniel."

Wolverhampton City Council today said the child was known to them and recieving multi agency support although had not been the subject of a child protection plan.