Overview
- A jury at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on 17 September 2025 found Natasha Birks, 37, guilty of cruelty to a person under 16.
- The case focused on 1 November 2021, when Birks had sole care of her five-month-old daughter, Rhian, at home in Stoke-on-Trent.
- Evidence showed Birks drank vodka-based mixes to an alcohol level described as 2.5 times the legal drink‑drive limit and left the house multiple times to smoke.
- Prosecutors said she only briefly looked in on the baby, failed to notice a missed overnight feed, and paramedics later reported signs of rigor mortis.
- The CPS emphasized it did not allege she caused or foresaw the death, arguing her intoxication breached parental duties under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.