A young child was left looking like "someone from Auschwitz" after a former nurse poisoned him, a court has heard.
The boy was given "industrial amounts" of the laxative lactulose by ex-NHS worker Tracy Menhinick.
The child, who was aged between three and six at the time, was left hospitalised after his growth became so under developed.
As a result, one expert witness said the child appeared to resemble a survivor from a concentration camp.
A young child was left looking like "someone from Auschwitz" after a former nurse poisoned him, a court has heard
PA
The court heard he has since recovered but has permanent disfigurements and was once admitted to hospital weighing just under 10kg at the age of five.
He was diagnosed with Munchausen by proxy poisoning - a mental illness most often linked to child abuse by a caregiver.
Menhinick was due to be sentenced today at the High Court in Glasgow.
The boy was admitted to hospital in October 2016 over concerns about his weight loss and explosive diarrhoea.
However, no evidence was found of Menhinick poisoning the child at that time.
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The child's medical notes stated that he had been settled overnight, but once Menhinick had been to care for him, he would suffer from explosive diarrhoea within hours, the court heard.
Menhinick was blocked from caring for the boy after a test result from Great Ormond Street Hospital confirmed lactulose was present in his stool sample.
Dr Peter Sullivan, Emeritus professor in paediatric gastroenterology at Oxford University said the boy's condition "dramatically" improved once Menhinick was no longer allowed to care for the child.
He concluded Munchausen by proxy, also known as Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII), was the reason.
The boy was given "industrial amounts" of the laxative lactulose by ex-NHS worker Tracy Menhinick
PA
Frances Connor, defending, said her client has a "complex psychological history" which includes Munchausen by proxy and bipolar disorder.
Judge Lady Drummond said: "What is puzzling me is the psychological reports address fitness to stand trial or plead and give instructions or more recently looking at her risk in prison.
"It is suggested in the report that Miss Menhinick's psychological or mental disorder has impacted on her offending behaviour.
"This is something I require to take into account when sentencing her. At the moment I don't see in the reports analysis of that - I feel I need to understand that better before I can sentence her.
"It is recognised that mental disorders can impact on offending."
