You may remember we reported on a mum who posted pictures of her child inside a washing machine to social media.

 

Courtney Stewart was investigated by police after posting a Facebook photo of her two-year-old son Caleb who has Down syndrome. In the picture he is sitting in the drum smiling, while she holds the door closed with her hand.

 

Courtney was soon dubbed 'the world's most hated mum' after the picture went viral and she now say she was wrongly “demonised” over the snap.

 

She said the toddler climbed into the unplugged appliance and she only took the snap to show him having fun. Within hours, someone had reported her for child cruelty and she was visited by police. She soon needed officers to guard her home after receiving a tonne of abuse following her rise to infamy.

 

"A cruel Facebook page demonising me because I have a disabled child was set up in my name and the photo and video went viral online, making me the world’s most hated mum. I have never cried so much.

 

"Of course I regret posting the photo online. I made a naïve, foolish mistake and I apologise to anyone offended by it. But I never meant any harm. Caleb was never distressed or in danger."

 

However, after this incident a member of the public released a soundless video of Courtney playing with Caleb on a bouncy castle, which caused a flood of criticism from people claiming the mum was being far too rough.

 

 

Courtney has now revealed she and her family, which also includes her partner and Caleb’s six month-old sister, had to leave their home in Renfrewshire, after receiving terrifying threats from abusers calling her “sick and evil”.

 

Courtney was 18 when she became pregnant with little Caleb and three days before his birth at 34 weeks, she was given his diagnosis.

 

"It was a devastating shock for everyone as no one associated Down’s Syndrome with a mum as young as me. But I’d felt him kicking – there was never any question I wouldn’t love him. At birth we immediately bonded.

 

"It was hard being on my own but I adore being a mum.

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