A mother of five children who poisoned her five-month-old baby daughter with sedatives because she could not cope has been put on probation for three years in Northern Ireland.
Her children have been taken into care.
At Downpatrick Crown Court which was sitting in Belfast, Mr Justice McLaughlin told the 38- year-old woman, who cannot be identified to protect her children, that because of her "serious mental issues" he was imposing the maximum period of probation.
This was to give her "the maximum opportunity to find the help and medical assistance that you need".
At a previous court hearing, Mr Paul Ramsey QC, prosecuting, told the judge that on October 18th, 1999, when the baby girl was aged just five months old, the mother was at her local accident and emergency department with another child when doctors became worried about her baby.
As a doctor was examining the child, she vomited and was then admitted to the children's ward.
Mr Ramsey said that urine tests revealed "there were tranquilliser drugs, sedatives, in the child's system".
However, the mother "could give no explanation" as to why they were there, so social services were informed of the situation.
The court heard that while the child was still in hospital, further blood tests revealed the mother had given her baby more of the tranquillisers, originally prescribed for her.
Both parents were interviewed by the police about the matter but again, they gave no explanation why their daughter had sedatives in her blood.
However, during a meeting with social workers, they handed in a letter where the mother "admitted she had given three or four tablets" to the child.
Mr Ramsey said the letter went on to suggest that the woman was "having difficulty" with her own mother as she was "very critical of the baby" and that it further suggested the woman was depressed.
Social services passed the letter on to the police and so the charges were brought against the baby's mother.
In March 2001, she was again interviewed by the police but "declined to answer" any of their questions.
Mr Eugene Grant QC, defending, said that at the time, the woman was "suffering from severe post-natal depression" and was having difficulty in coping with her baby, adding that she had a "history of contact" with psychiatric services including a number of admissions to mental hospitals.
He revealed that since the offence had come to light, all five children had been taken into foster care.
"She deeply loves all her children - that is the sadness and tragedy of this case," said Mr Grant.
The woman, who was originally charged with attempted murder but who pleaded guilty to the charge of cruelty to a person under 16, was told by Mr Justice McLaughlin that he accepted she did not intend to kill her daughter but "you intended to harm the child and you did harm the child".
He told her that her children had been taken into care "not to punish you but to protect your children from you - no one else".