Ashington man jailed for giving child cigarettes

Posted by The Journal on Oct 16, 09 09:48 AM in News

A man from Ashington who allowed a three-year-old to smoke cigarettes has been jailed for 18 months.

Graeme Conroy allowed the little girl to smoke from his cigarette pack during a visit to her home in Wardley, Gateshead, in February this year.

Some of the sickening incident was captured on film after Conroy encouraged another child, a 14-year-old, to record what was going on.

Conroy was reported to the police when another adult was shown the shocking footage.

The 31-year-old, of Ashington, admitted cruelty. Prosecutor Tony Glover told the court: "The essence of this offence is he allowed and encouraged this child to smoke."

The youngster who captured the footage told police she was informed the girl had already smoked two cigarettes when she arrived at the house.

She told police: "I was told to video so I did.

"She had another one then finished that one and said: 'Can I have another one?' He said 'aye then'.

"I stopped recording, he was like it was dead funny. He said finish it and she put it out in the ashtray then said: 'Can I have another one?'

"He said 'you've had enough' and she started crying so he gave her one. She was inhaling it and everything. It looked like she had smoked before, she was inhaling and she knew what to do.

"Graeme didn't tell her what to do, she just knew what to do."

The court heard Conroy had bragged he had given the girl cannabis but tests on the child's hair ruled it out. Mr Glover said: "There is no evidence the child has ever taken cannabis, we are talking about ordinary cigarettes here."

The court heard tests showed although the girl's chest was clear, she had a low wheezing.

Mr Glover read an extract from a medical report which highlighted the dangers of smoke to young children.

A doctor who examined the girl said: "There is evidence she has been forced to smoke cigarettes, substances present within cigarettes are known to have a number of toxic effects on human lungs, childrens lungs are still growing and are particularly vulnerable to cigarette smoke."

Conroy told police interview he knew what he did was wrong. His barrister Jane Foley told the court: "He did not give sufficient thought to what he was doing, believing it to be a bit of a joke.

"Clearly it was not funny, anyone hearing the circumstances of this offence would be appalled to hear a three-year-old child was permitted to smoke cigarettes."

Judge David Wood sentenced drug addict Conroy to 18 months behind bars. The Judge told him: "You thought it would be funny if she was allowed to smoke cigarettes and you could take a video of what was going on.

"I expect you realise now this was not funny at all, this sort of conduct could be very damaging to a child's health."

DI Ron Cruikshanks, head of the Public Protection Unit of Gateshead area command: "This was an appalling case of neglect and ill treatment against a child who is little more than a baby.

"I'm pleased the sentence reflects the extremely serious nature of this offence."

We'd like to hear from you.
Send your stories, pics and videos to northumberland@ncjmedia.co.uk