Bradley Justin Staude’s toddler ‘miraculously’ survives ingesting ‘extremely high’ GHB dose
A little girl ingested 10 times the level of illegal drug GHB that could kill an adult, an Adelaide court has heard, but her father still waited hours to call Triple-0.
Police & Courts
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A 20-month-old child has “miraculously” survived ingesting 10 times the amount of fantasy that can kill an adult, a court has heard.
The child’s father, Bradley Justin Staude, 28, of Ferryden Park, has pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal neglect over the incident in March last year.
During sentencing submissions in the District Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Lisa Lakatos said the toddler had 10.7g per litre of fantasy, also known as GHB, in her urine.
“The concentration of GHB in the victim’s urine sample was extremely high and above the levels normally found in cases of death due to GHB intoxication,” Ms Lakatos said.
She said a specialist reported that “overdose fatalities in adults have measured GHB in urine at less than 1g per litre”.
“That was one-tenth of what was in the victim’s urine level,” Ms Lakatos said.
Judge Joana Fuller, who is hearing the case, said: “It’s a miracle she didn’t die.”
Ms Lakatos said the child also had methylamphetamine and amphetamine in her urine at the same time, but not in her blood, indicating that she had come into contact with the illicit substances “several days prior” to ingesting GHB.
She said Staude had chosen “self preservation over the needs of his own daughter” by not immediately reporting what happened.
“On the prosecution case he knew she drank GHB and he knew he could get into trouble with police,” Ms Lakatos said.
The court has previously heard Staude did not seek help for the child for about four hours and had Googled “what happens when a kid drinks fantasy?” at 10.30pm, about the time she ingested the illicit drug.
He then waited almost four hours, until 2.20am, before calling an ambulance.
Ms Lakatos said Staude was “trying to distance himself from the truth of what actually happened” by not telling ambulance officers he suspected the child had ingested GHB.
Justin Wickens, for Staude, said the victim had found an item containing the drug on the floor of an unlit shed.
But prosecutors said it was more likely the child found and ingested the illicit drug inside the home.
Ms Lakatos said the “living conditions” at Mr Staude’s house “were quite frankly disgusting and included the presence of drugs and drug paraphernalia inside the house”.
The court heard food was found in saucepans on the floor, along with rubbish, clothes and plates.
It heard Staude had been a regular drug abuser for years but stopped using GHB about two months before the incident.
Mr Wickens said his client was abusing cannabis at the time but kept the drugs high in a kitchen cupboard. But he said Staude was aware of the presence of other drugs in the house.
“He’s not suggesting he didn’t put this child in danger … he should have acted, he should have called triple-0 straight away,” Mr Wickens said.
The court heard Staude had breached his bail nine times and twice tested positive to cannabis.
He returns to court later this month when the court considers whether to revoke his bail or tighten his bail conditions.
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