Midlothian man who badly injured baby facing lengthy jail term
A man who threw a two-month-old baby in the air but failed to catch him properly before shaking the "completely lifeless" looking tot was behind bars today (10th Feb).
Jay Bell also failed to seek medical attention for the child despite later filming him having a seizure on his mobile phone.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the little boy is now registered blind and suffers from cerebral palsy after sustaining brain injury.
Bell (23) of Dougall Place, Mayfield, Dalkeith, Midlothian, admitted culpable and reckless conduct towards the youngster to his severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life.
He threw the child repeatedly in the air, but the baby struck his head on a wall, hit a Moses basket and fell to the floor and was repeatedly shaken.
He also admitted wilfully neglecting the tot and failing to seek medical attention.
Bell's defence solicitor advocate John Keenan sought to have Bell remain on bail ahead of sentencing next month but a judge rejected the move.
Judge Paul Arthurson QC said there had been "catastrophic medical sequelae" for the child and told Bell: "These offences are likely to attract a substantial custodial sentence."
The court heard that Bell, a joiner, had been looking after the baby on July 26 in 2013 at a house in Midlothian.
Advocate depute Andrew Brown QC said Bell had lay on a bed and begun to throw the child up and down, catching him.
"On one occasion he failed to catch him properly and he fell, first striking his head on the wall behind the bed, then striking the Moses basket and finally the floor, landing on his side," said the prosecutor.
"The accused looked at the child who was staring at him vacantly. The accused picked him up and shook him repeatedly until he began to cry. He then tried to settle the child but without success," he said.
Bell had later babysat the child again when the baby suffered fits, but did not seek medical help although at one stage he filmed him in the process of a seizure.
The child was later taken to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. He was found to have swelling and bleeding on the brain, retinal haemorrhaging and a fractured rib and ankle.
Mr Brown said: "He was acutely unwell on admission to hospital and had what medical professionals term the 'triad' of injuries that are associated to so-called 'shaken baby syndrome'."
Bell later told police the baby was "staring at me completely lifeless". He said: "His eyes were looking at me and he was completely straight not doing anything."
He said: "So I picked him up and tried to shake him to come back round. I dinnae ken how long I shook him for maybe 10 seconds, that's what it felt like to me. He came round and started crying."
A paediatric specialist said a baby of that age should never have been tossed in the air as the child required head support.
Mr Brown said that at age two and a half the child is unable to sit unaided and a consultant had indicated that if he does really well he may be able to walk with the use of a walker. He is partially sighted and has difficulty seeing more than a metre in front of him.
The prosecutor said the Crown accepted that while Bell's conduct was "plainly culpable and reckless" it lacked the wicked intent for an assault.
He said there at no stage actual danger to life but the throwing of a child of that age was "inherently dangerous".
Mr Keenan said Bell had suffered from depression and had experienced nightmares and could not sleep.