London : A mother who forced her young son into a wheelchair and gave him unnecessary drugs to win the sympathy of celebrities and donations from charities was jailed on Friday.
‘Sadistic' Lisa Hayden-Johnson even connected the boy, now eight, up to an oxygen tank as part of the pretence that he was seriously ill.
Hayden-Johnson was said to have revelled in the national media attention her son attracted. It led to meetings with members of the Royal family and former prime minister Tony Blair.
The mother of two received free tickets to X Factor, thousands in cash donations and benefits, went on free cruises, and successfully lobbied for her son to receive a national GMTV bravery award.
But such was the ‘24-hour-torture' the boy faced that he became convinced he was chronically ill, Exeter Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane said the cruelty the child was subjected to was "lengthy and enduring."
He added: "The defendant organised, orchestrated and ensured a regime of medical, physiological and psychological mistreatment, amounting to 24-hour-a-day torture that touched on every aspect of his young vulnerable life.
"As a result of her sadistic fabrication, the defendant achieved much publicity and national attention."
— Daily Mail
