A TODDLER died in agony – poisoned by plant food used by his mum to grow cannabis, a court heard.

Hungry and thirsty Aaron Booth suffered fatal internal injuries after drinking from a bottle of toxic liquid plant food, a jury heard yesterday.

Two-year-old Aaron had grabbed the bottle from a windowsill at his Almondbury home as his mum Lauren was asleep in bed.

Bradford Crown Court heard the boy was rushed to hospital in November 2010 after drinking from a bottle of pH Up liquid which he managed to grab from a landing windowsill at his home in Norris Close.

Booth, 24, has denied one charge of wilfully neglecting her son.

Prosecutor Tom Storey told the court that at the time the youngster, who was born premature and deaf in both ears, had not had any food or drink that morning because his mother Lauren had gone to bed at 6am and he had been “left to his own devices”.

Mr Storey said that to a young child the blue plastic bottle containing the liquid may have looked similar to a Fruit Shoot drink.

Emergency services attended the house after Booth’s boyfriend Sean Williams went to a neighbour’s to call for an ambulance at around 12.40pm on November 6, 2010.

“He was followed shortly afterwards by the defendant, who was hysterical,” said Mr Storey.

“She was carrying Aaron, who was floppy and gasping for breath, and his lips and the inside of his mouth were brown.”

By the time paramedics arrived Aaron was turning purple, foaming at the mouth and struggling to breathe.

“When asked what Aaron had swallowed the defendant repeatedly said she did not know,” said Mr Storey.

The plant food pH Up contains potassium hydroxide, also known as caustic potash, and the bottle carries a warning: “Causes burns. Keep locked up and out of reach of children.”

It is used in hydroponic growing systems for plants such as cannabis and the prosecution suggest that cannabis was being grown at the house in Norris Close.

Mr Storey said the potassium hydroxide was a highly-corrosive substance and the equivalent of two teaspoon measures was a fatal dose.

The court heard that investigation of a laptop computer found in the house indicated that someone had been researching the growing of cannabis in the months before Aaron’s death.

During his time in hospital the youngster was found to have suffered burns to his oesophagus and stomach.

There were also burns to his pancreas, spleen and the tissue supplying blood to his colon.

The youngster underwent major surgery to remove his stomach and part of his oesophagus, but he later developed respiratory problems and had to undergo a tracheotomy and be fed intravenously.

But his condition declined over the next few days and it was discovered that his trachea had essentially begun to disintegrate and his condition was non-survivable.

He died at Leeds General Infirmary 11 days after his admission.

Mr Storey alleged that the cultivation of cannabis in the house explained the presence of the pH Up liquid.

He suggested that Booth’s behaviour in staying in bed amounted to a failure to adequately cater for Aaron’s needs and welfare and together with the cultivation of cannabis and the presence of poisonous liquid in the home it was wilful neglect of him in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to his health.

Aaron’s father Mohammed Khan, a 33-year-old married man with children, gave evidence in which he claimed to have smelled cannabis at the house.

He also alleged that Booth had told him they had been growing the drug when he saw her at the hospital.

“She told me they were trying to make Aaron’s life better ...by growing cannabis,” alleged Mr Khan.

Booth became visibly upset during Mr Khan’s evidence and her barrister Michelle Colborne QC suggested that he was inventing the conversation in the hospital and other matters, but Mr Khan denied doing that.

The trial continues.