 
 
 Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press 
 
 
 
 
 
 CALGARY -- A woman who failed to take her son to the doctor for a strep infection has been sentenced to three years in prison -- a punishment a Calgary judge says fits the grave crime that resulted in the seven-year-old boy's painful death. Tamara Lovett, 48, was found guilty in January of criminal negligence causing the death of her son, Ryan, who died in 2013. Justice Kristine Eidsvik said it wasn't Lovett's fault her son Ryan got sick, but she had several days to get him proper medical care. Defence lawyer Alain Hepner had proposed a jail term of one year plus probation, while the Crown argued Lovett should spend four to five years in prison.​ 
 
 "This sentence of three years really pales in comparison to the life sentence she's received already for being responsible for the death of her child," Hepner said. Prosecutor Jonathan Hak said outside court the sentence sends a clear message. "If your child is not getting better, you are legally and morally bound to take your child to an actual doctor for actual medical care." Lovett's sentence was handed down shortly after the judge denied her defence lawyer's Jordan application, which argued Lovett's rights were violated because it took too long for her case to make it through the court system. "It would not be just to set aside a conviction and issue a stay," said Eidsvik in delivering her decision Friday morning. Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada set out a 30-month time frame for superior courts in what has become known as the Jordan decision. Lovett's case took 38 months to run its course, but Eidsvik said she subtracted six months for delays she attributed to the defence. The trial heard Lovett gave Ryan dandelion tea and oil of oregano when he developed the infection that kept him bedridden in their Calgary home for 10 days in 2013. The trial heard that Ryan was dead well before his mother called 911 to say he had stopped breathing. In assessing Lovett's moral blameworthiness, Eidsvik found Ryan "was completely dependent on his mother for using common sense in treatment choices" and died "an excruciating, unnecessary death." Eiskvik found Lovett's remorse to be genuine and noted the loss of Ryan was already a "severe punishment" 
 
 "Tamara Lovett killed her child, that's a terrible thing for her to live with," said Hak.
– A Calgary mother has been sentenced to three years in prison for failing to medically treat the strep throat that caused her seven-year-old son’s death. Per CBC News, Tamara Lovett was found guilty of criminal negligence in January after treating her son Ryan’s illness with home remedies in 2013. Believing he had a cold or the flu, Lovett said she administered Ryan dandelion tea and oil of oregano and didn’t take him to the doctor. Ryan remained bedridden for 10 days before Lovett found him on the floor of their home. She called 911, but Ryan was dead when the paramedics arrived. During the sentencing, Justice Kristine Eidsvik called Ryan’s death “senseless” and said the decision to give Lovett prison time is meant to send a warning to parents. “Ryan suffered terribly from this inaction. He died an excruciating, unnecessary death,” she said. Eidsvik also expressed sympathy for Lovett and noted that she believes the mother’s thinking around medicine has evolved since the tragedy. "Her remorse, I believe, is genuine," she said, per CTV News. Lovett’s defense lawyer Alain Hepner had argued for a shorter sentence of one year with an additional year of probation. "She's received a life sentence already for being responsible for the death of her child," he said after the hearing. Hepner attempted to get Lovett’s case dismissed due to the long time frame between her arrest and conviction, but was denied. (A new Canadian law limits superior court cases to 30 months; this one took 38.)