Court is told of a ‘catastrophic’ loss of control
hours of the morning, the mother went downstairs and looked at her daughter who appeared to be sleeping before going back to bed. On two occasions, the baby’s temperature was taken as Haining said the baby seemed cold. After 5am, Shannon was woken again by Haining shouting that Mikayla had stopped breathing. He told her to use his phone to make a 999 call. Paramedics attended and the baby was taken to Raigmore Hospital, in Inverness. A CT scan showed widespread bleeding to the brain.
A post-mortem revealed the cause of death was head trauma.
An examination of Haining’s phone showed he made three Google searches between 4.22am and 4.45am. The first was for “Baby took a panic attack and now she’s unresponsive”. The second was for “What happens when a newborn is shaked hard”.
The third was for “Newborn in a coma”. Meehan said the skull fracture sustained by the child was caused by “significant blunt force impact”.
He added: “The rib injuries are consistent with significant pressure being applied to the baby’s torso during shaking.”
The judge asked for an explanation of the Crown decision to accept the plea to culpable homicide. Meehan said an inference could be drawn that there was not an intention to kill on the part of Haining.
He said there was an account of “a loss of control for a short period of time with catastrophic consequences”. The court heard that the baby’s brain injuries were “catastrophic and un-survivable”.
Detective Inspector Brian Geddes said: “At just days old, Mikayla should have been safest in the arms of her father – instead he inflicted injuries so severe that she would never recover.
“I would like to thank Mikayla’s extended family for their support throughout our investigation and I sincerely hope that the punishment handed to Haining offers them some form of closure so that they can begin to move on with their lives.”
Haining will be sentenced next month.