Rebecca Lea Denton: Weed-smoking mum who let baby son Alvin die sentenced to home detention

A mother who failed to get medical help for her seriously injured son will not spend time in jail but will serve her sentence in home detention.

The shocking example of criminal neglect began when Rebecca Lea Denton came home from coffee with a friend on April 21, 2021, to find her three-week-old son Alvin seriously injured.

Her partner, Ashley McGregor, told her he had knocked over the crib with the helpless baby in it, the court was told.

Over the next few hours, baby Alvin had a swollen upper lip, couldn’t eat properly, seemed sleepy and emotionless during baths, and couldn’t open his left eye.

Reading Denton’s sentence at the Adelaide District Court on Thursday, Judge Rauf Soulio said Denton knew her son had experienced a traumatic event but she “did not seek medical treatment for him at the time”.

Photos from before April 21 showed Alvin ‘blooming’, but after the alleged incident with Mr McGregor there was a ‘visible change in his condition and condition’.

On the afternoon of April 21, Judge Soulio said Alvin’s breathing was “rattling” and that he was restless at night, crying and making a “loud cry, as if in pain.”

Then at 4:30 a.m. on April 23, Denton heard her baby boy making “chesty, gurgling, grunting noises,” but she “didn’t try to wake him,” Judge Soulio said.

At 6.30am, Denton found the boy in his crib “cold and unresponsive”, the court was told.

She and Mr McGregor took him to healthcare shortly after 7am, but medical staff were unable to revive him.

Medical staff noted bruising on his back and spine, Judge Soulio told the court, and under his left eye.

An autopsy on Alvin revealed that blunt brain trauma was the cause of his death.

Judge Soulio emphasized that there was no suggestion that Denton caused Alvin’s injuries, only that she failed to arrange medical attention for him.

“Knowing that he was injured and that his condition was deteriorating … you could not provide or obtain medical care,” he said.

The court was told Alvin’s death had ‘affected a number of people’, including Denton’s eldest son and Alvin’s teenage brother.

Judge Soulio, referring to the teenager’s victim impact statement, said the boy found it ‘difficult to cope with the grief’.

“He said he had thoughts of suicide to be with his little brother,” Judge Soulio said.

Rebecca Denton (left) and Ashley McGregor (right) were charged in the death of three-week-old Alvin

The court was told Denton used marijuana during Alvin’s pregnancy and Mr McGregor had suggested Alvin’s changes could be explained by cannabis withdrawal.

Denton blew cannabis smoke into the child’s face.

A forensic psychologist analyzed Denton and Judge Soulio said the health care provider concluded that Denton was remorseful for her transgressions and was experiencing an ongoing “grief response.”

Denton, who sat in the dock, tried to hold back tears during Judge Soulio’s remarks.

Her face twitched in obvious pain as the details of Alvin’s injuries were read out to the court.

The court was told Denton took responsibility for what she had failed to do.

Judge Rauf Soulio said Denton (center) knew her son had experienced a traumatic event but “did not seek medical treatment for him at the time.”

Her psychological profile showed a person with low average intelligence, chronically low self-esteem, limited coping skills and a pathological fear of abandonment, Judge Soulio said.

Judge Soulio said that in passing sentence he had to take into account public safety and the need for public denunciation and deterrence.

He also said rehabilitation could serve the safety of the community.

He sentenced Denton to four years and six months in prison with a non-parole period of two years and six months, citing ‘exceptional circumstances’.

He ordered Denton to serve the sentence in home confinement.

Police have charged Mr McGregor with manslaughter over Alvin’s death and he will appear in court in 2025.

Denton will testify on behalf of the prosecution at Mr McGregor’s trial.