Pictured: The smirking mother who let her baby die… Three-month-old baby passed away after ‘despicable’ neglect by parents who left him hungry and dirty, while a class C drug was found in his milk bottle

A couple who neglected their son in the months before his death are facing prison.

Stephen Angell, 44, and Laura Stevenson, 46, subdued Stephen Angell Jr. suffered harrowing abuse and became ‘exceptionally thin’ before he died.

Traces of the class C drug diazepam were found in his milk bottle.

Stephen’s cause of death could not be determined, but doctors had requested he be monitored ‘very closely’, and social work records showed concerns had been raised about his welfare while he was alive.

Angell and Stevenson, from East Kilbride, denied any wrongdoing but were convicted of willful neglect of Stephen between August and November 2018 after a trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

Laura Stevenson was seen wearing a yellow jacket while smoking a cigarette

The cause of death of Stephen (pictured) could not be determined, but doctors had requested he be monitored ‘very closely’, and social work records showed concerns had been raised about his welfare while he was alive .

The court heard the baby was hungry and dirty when examined by medical professionals and there were concerns his parents were not meeting his nutritional needs.

Professor Charlotte Wright said Stephen Jr was ‘exceptionally thin’ when she examined him.

During an exchange, Stevenson and Angell were advised to increase the amount of baby food they gave Stephen, but Angell responded, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Dr. Adrienne Sullivan said she examined the baby in October 2018 because she was concerned about him not gaining weight.

She said his hands, feet and armpits were dirty, he had long nails and he smelled body odor that was “unusual.”

She became concerned about nutrition after he gained 100 grams in three days under medical supervision but was struggling to gain weight at home.

In evidence, Dr Sullivan said: ‘There was a failure to provide Stephen with sufficient nutrition to achieve the adequate gains you would expect from a bottle-fed child.

‘If you don’t get enough to eat, you don’t have enough building blocks to grow, you don’t have the building blocks to develop your brain. I have advised the health visitor to keep a close eye on him.”

In a report, health visitor Ann-Marie Hamilton also wrote: ‘He still seems hungry after a feeding, but parents don’t seem to respond to this.’

Stevenson had also once gotten drunk and left her son with a woman who was disabled and “morbidly obese” and had gone to bed, the jury heard.

Stephen Jr. was later found soaked in urine in the woman’s arms by her shocked daughter.

Deputy fiscal John Coogan told jurors that the presence of drugs in a baby bottle summed up the case against the couple.

He said: ‘The presence of diazepam in the bottle provides an extremely convincing picture that baby Stephen was exposed to the risk of ingesting medication and this is against a backdrop of both accused being told about the importance of a sterile bottle.’

The court heard the baby was hungry and dirty when examined by medical professionals and there were concerns his parents were not meeting his nutritional needs

During an exchange, Stevenson and Angell were advised to increase the amount of baby food they gave Stephen, but Angell responded, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Defense attorneys alleged that both Angell and Stevenson were scapegoated by health care professionals.

George Gebbie, defending Angell, said: ‘He was desperate for healthcare professionals to give him the right advice and the evidence shows they simply wouldn’t listen.’

Sheriff Colin Dunipace deferred sentence against both defendants until July for charges and continuation of bail.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘The tragic death of Stephen Angell junior after months of despicable abuse is deeply disturbing.

“Those responsible must now be held accountable for their crimes.”