A mum accused of murdering her five-year-old son told a hospital worker she found him dead after dropping him from the attic, a trial has heard.

Today (June 20), the trial surrounding the death of Dylan Scanlon on December 31, 2021 at his house on Elm Street, Limeside, continued.

Claire Scanlon, 38, is on trial charged with one count of murder, with an alternative lesser count of manslaughter, as well as a further alternative lesser count of child cruelty.

She claims that Dylan fell off a ladder the day before he died, which caused his 64 separate injuries.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, the jury heard from Joshua Davidson, senior support worker who monitored Scanlon between January and March 2022 at Edenfield Hospital in Prestwich, where Scanlon stayed after her arrest.

Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox by signing up to The Oldham Times’ morning and evening newsletters as well as our breaking news alerts

Mr Davidson was questioned by prosecutor Lisa Wilding about conversations he had with Scanlon.

In a statement he previously made to police, Mr Davidson said that at one point he had a conversation with Scanlon when she told him she had once been holding her son in her arms while she went up to the attic.

She said Dylan did something which caused her to drop him and that he fell down the ladder which led up to the attic, and that he ended up at the bottom of the stairs.

Mr Davidson said Scanlon told him she finished what she was doing in the attic before she went down to Dylan and that when she got to him, he was dead.

He says she then told him she took Dylan to bed to keep him warm.

Mr Davidson said he recorded an observation of his conversation with Scanlon at the time, which he says is hospital policy.

On another occasion, Scanlon said to him: "I killed my son."

The court also heard evidence from Christopher Madden, a forensic toxicologist, who analysed samples of blood and urine from Dylan.

A blood sample found Dylan had 9,951 micrograms of mirtazapine per litre of blood in his system.

He says this amount would be consistent with other fatalities from mirtazapine, an anti-depressant drug Scanlon was prescribed.

Mr Madden discussed how the deaths of eight adults who overdosed on mirtazapine were studied, with the amount of the drug found in the systems ranging from 1,000 to 4,400 micrograms per litre of blood.

He said that he could not tell how Dylan had ingested the mirtazapine and if it was taken in one single go or administered across multiple occasions.

Read our coverage of the trial so far

Earlier in the proceedings, statements were read out from neighbours, paramedics and police officers who attended the scene of Dylan's death on December 31.

Paramedics and neighbours who performed CPR described Dylan's body as stiff and cold, with bruising to his head and face.

Dylan was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, with senior paramedic Kelly Barton saying Dylan's body showed obvious signs of rigor mortis, which shows someone has been dead for a while.

The trial continues tomorrow.