Clydebank man on trial for attempting to murder a baby

A man is on trial accused of attempting to murder a nine-month-old baby by fracturing her skull.

Dad-of-three William Robertson, 21, denies assaulting the baby girl, who was in his care, by repeatedly striking her on the head and body or repeatedly throwing her, dropping her or otherwise causing her to strike unknown surfaces at his then home in Jean Armour Drive, Clydebank, on September 9, 2017.

The mother of the baby girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the High Court in Glasgow that she received a phone call at 3.53 am telling her her daughter was in hospital.

The 19-year-old told prosecutor Greg Farrell: “William said 'I need to take her to the hospital. She fell off the couch head first and she's got an egg-shaped lump on her head.'”

The young mum added: “He said he was waiting for an ambulance.”

When asked by Mr Farrell how Robertson sounded she replied: “He was trying to sound upset. I could tell it was put on by the tone of his voice. It was as if he was pretending to cry.”

The mum told the jury that when she arrived at the hospital around 4.20am Robertson was sitting on a chair and her daughter was screaming in pain.

She added: "Her forehead was black and blue, her two eyes were black and blue and inside her ears was bruised as well. She had a bit of blood at her ear and round her mouth."

She said: “He was sitting next to my daughter. He was not trying to comfort her. He said 'It's not what it looks like.'”

The witness told the court she believed that Robertson was drunk and added: “I could smell drink off him and his eyes were just all over the place.”

She said that Robertson gave her three different accounts of how the baby came to be injured. In the first he said she fell off the sofa head first.

The mum added: “He also said she was at the back of the couch and had fallen down and he pulled her back up holding her head and an ankle. He also said he woke up and she had fallen by the kitchen door.”

The jury was told that the baby suffered a fractured skull but made a full recovery and now aged two attends nursery.

Defence QC Donald Findlay asked the witness why she had posted a photograph of her daughter in July 2017 during a holiday in Tenerife which showed the baby balanced face down on the arm of a settee above a marble tiled floor.

She said: “I took it because I wanted to. It was just a picture of my daughter.”

Prosecutor Mr Farrell asked her: “Did she fall off the couch and fracture her skull,” and she replied: “No.”

The court also heard Robertson turned up at his family home in the early hours of the morning carrying the unconscious child.

His sister Juliette Robertson, 32, a manager and mother-of-two, said that her brother arrived at the house which was just two or three minutes walk away from his Clydebank flat with the baby wrapped in a blanket.

Robertson told his sister the baby had fallen. She dialled 999 and as she spoke to the operator she noticed that the little girls's skull was misshapen.

The jury heard her during the 999 call say: “Oh my f***ing God. I've just seen the back of her head, it's really bad. I think it's her skull. It's misshapen.”

Ms Robertson was asked by prosecutor Mr Farrell from what height her brother said the baby had fallen.

He said: “Did you say 'I've just confirmed how high she fell from and he's adamant it was the seat,” and she replied: “Yes that's what William said.”

During the phone call the baby can be heard groaning as she regains consciousness and Robertson is crying.

Ms Robertson told the jury that the baby had bruising to her forehead and a misshapen skull and added: “She had lines – bruises – on her face that looked like finger marks.”

Robertson is also accused of being unfit to care for the baby because he had taken alcohol and smoked controlled substances. He is also alleged to have had cannabis in his possession on September 8, last year.

He denies all the charges against him and the trial before Judge Norman Ritchie continues.