A WOMAN who put a young girl’s life at risk by failing to tell doctors she had taken the date rape drug GHB has been placed on probation.

Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the toddler could have died after drinking from a juice bottle containing the drug in a diluted form.

Leanne Day, from Dunfermline, tried to pass the bottle’s contents off as oven cleaner in the hope she would not be found out.

Day (23), of Broomhead Drive, pleaded guilty to seriously endangering the life of the toddler at an address in Dunfermline on July 23, 2007.

She admitted culpably and recklessly exposing the youngster to the drug known as Gamma Hydroxybutyrate.

By failing to tell paramedics and hospital staff what the child had drunk, she exposed her to unnecessary suffering.

Depute fiscal Rebecca Kynaston told Sheriff Craig McSherry when the case called in April that an ambulance was called when the little girl fell ill.

Day suggested the bottle might contain oven cleaning fluid.

The youngster was taken to Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline where Day failed to tell doctors what had happened, even when the girl became gravely ill.

Doctors became so worried about the girl’s condition they decided to transfer her to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.

Staff there began treating her as though she had some sort of viral infection.

The true nature of the bottle’s contents only became apparent when the authorities received an anonymous tip-off.

Miss Kynaston said, “The accused was confronted by a member of staff about the information contained in the phone call.

“She couldn’t come up with an explanation for the child’s condition.”

Day insisted she did not take drugs and would not have anything like that in the house.

However tests carried out confirmed the little girl had indeed consumed the drug, which can lead to everything from brain damage and liver failure to death.

Solicitor Stephen Morrison said, “The situation is that in the lead up to this particular incident Miss Day had been abusing GHB for about a year.

“She had prior to that been fairly massively abusing alcohol,” Mr Morrison added.

The drug was normally diluted and on the day in question two bottles had been prepared, one of which Day drank.

The other was tucked away in a supposedly safe place.

But the child found it and drank from it.

Mr Morrison added Day could not believe what she had done.

Part of her motivation in not telling the doctors was self-preservation, but Mr Morrison added the drug could cause confusion.

“When doctors were trying to speak to her on certain occasions she wasn’t making any sense,” he said.

“The child did nearly die, and she is under no illusions that near result was her fault and nobody else’s fault.

“She bitterly regrets what unfolded here.”

At the height of her drinking, Day was consuming four and a half litres of cider a day when she had the money.

The court heard yesterday she had been getting help to overcome her drink and drug problems and had stayed out of trouble since her last court appearance.

Sheriff McSherry said he would follow the recommendation contained in a social inquiry report and placed Day on probation for a year.