In 2013, Poppy Widdison suffered a cardiac arrest at the home of 40-year-old John Rytting, who was dating the girl’s Pyke. A jury at Hull Crown Court heard of how tests were carried out after she died and the results revealed she ingested various drugs for up to six months leading up to her death.
The jury was told Widdison was given heroin, methadone, sedatives and ketamine. Pyke and Rytting, who are being accused of child cruelty, allegedly sent text messages to one another. In one of the messages, Pyke told her boyfriend to give Poppy a blue smartie (diazepam) and then she could go to sleep.
When police searched Rytting’s home, they found more than 1,000 tablets of drugs that were scattered across the place. Paramedics found the young girl turning blue and unresponsive after they received a call to the home. She was taken to Sheffield Children’s Hospital, but she died while there.
David Gordon, the prosecutor in the case, said Rytting and Pyke were not facing murder chargers or manslaughter because there wasn’t enough evidence to blame them for her death. He also said there were experts that disagreed about its cause, but there were clear evidence that the girl was fed drugs in a bid to keep her quiet.
A neighbor said they used to hear Pyke refer to her daughter as a b**** and there were marks on her arms. Pyke said she only smacked Poppy on the bottom in order to discipline her.
Pyke and Rytting deny the two charges of child cruelty. However, they both admitted a single charge of cruelty against the girl by neglecting her by exposing her to drugs. The trial is still going on and there’s no telling when it will conclude.
