An Oldham mum accused of killing her five-year-old son by fatally poisoning him with antidepressants has insisted to a jury she never gave him the drugs.

Claire Scanlon took to the stand at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday) to give evidence during day 10 of her trial.

Scanlon is accused of killing her son Dylan, five, at their Limeside home on December 31, 2021.

Dylan was found on that New Year's Eve at Elm Road with 64 separate injuries to his head and body, though mirtazapine toxicity has been determined as his ultimate cause of death.

A postmortem found Dylan had 9,951 micrograms per litre of blood of the anti-depressant drug, which his mother was prescribed, in his system.

Scanlon has been charged with one count of murder, with an alternative lesser count of manslaughter, as well as a further alternative lesser count of child cruelty.

The 38-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against her.

Speaking from behind a screen in the witness box, Scanlon told the jury that she never hit her son Dylan and never gave him mirtazapine or ever saw him with mirtazapine tablets.

When asked by defence barrister Louise Blackwell how Dylan got his injuries Scanlon said: "He fell down some steps” but said she did not remember when he fell.

Scanlon said that on December 31, 2021 she woke up with Dylan in her bed and that she spoke to him and he answered.

She noticed that he had black eye, but did not notice any other injuries, and gave him some Calpol but no other medicine.

Scanlon told the jury that she could not remember what time she woke up and that she could not remember whether Dylan got up that day.

She said she remembered watching television in her bedroom but could not remember what she watched or when.

She then told the jury that she could not remember how long she had been awake for when she went downstairs and called Dylan’s father, Gary Keenan, because Dylan “seemed a bit off".

Read our coverage of the trial so far:

Scanlon said that after the phone call she ran to her uncle Paul McDermott's house across the road because Dylan "did not seem himself".

She told the court that her uncle’s partner Joanne Wild's granddaughter returned to her house with her and that she asked her to carry Dylan downstairs while she got changed in the bathroom.

Scanlon said that she did not know what was wrong with Dylan.

The 38-year-old then said she did not remember the emergency services arriving but that she remembered "sorting a bag out" for Dylan and putting "clothes, sweets, drinks, and a toy" in the bag.

She told the jury: "I thought he was going to go to the hospital.”

Scanlon then alleged that she has no memory of anything that happened at the police station following her arrest or her first month at Edenfield Hospital in Prestwich where she was subsequently taken.

She did however say that she remembers one of the staff at Edenfield telling her Dylan's funeral had taken place and that she "broke down”.

Prosecutor Lisa Wilding then quizzed Scanlon about the messages and voicemails she sent to Mr Keenan in the two months prior to Dylan’s death and read several out to the court.

Scanlon denied threatening Mr Keenan that he would not see his son again or threatening him that she would kill herself in the messages.

The court heard that on Christmas Eve 2021, Scanlon sent a message to Mr Keenan in which she said: "I've done this for a year, struggling on my own. I'm empty I can't live much longer."

Scanlon said she meant "nothing" by the message and that she was not threatening Mr Keenan that she would kill herself.

Scanlon was later asked about a message she sent to Mr Keenan the day before Dylan died that read: “You’re just showing, all you want to do is act like me and Dyl weren’t in your life and crack on, make a new life with your new bird.

"So you go and do that. I’ll solve it for you. Go and enjoy your new life with her.”

Scanlon said she could not remember sending the message and that she did not want Mr Keenan to think she was going to take Dylan away permanently.

She then denied she was planning to do serious harm to Dylan.

When later asked about her bedroom by Ms Wilding, Scanlon admitted there was a letter in her bedside drawer that she wrote three months before Mr Keenan left and would add to when "something new would happen".

Scanlon denied that she wrote the letter shortly before Dylan died.

The letter was previously read to the court by Ms Wilding, one section read: “Don’t let them see us, just cremate us. All of this could have been avoided if his family and Gary left us alone.”

The trial continues tomorrow with Scanlon set to continue her evidence.