‘Lessons learned’ in case of abused BabyJ

Nicola Sturgeon has said “lessons will be learned” following the death in 2014 of a baby whose parents avoided prosecution despite being found responsible for the infant’s abuse.

The first minister described the case as “tragic and horrific”, when it was raised in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

Baby J was found dead at 11 weeks old by paramedics in June 2014 in Scotland.

Post-mortem examinations revealed he had suffered internal injuries, including broken ribs which a judge later found were “non-accidental”.

The case was investigated by Police Scotland but no criminal charges were brought.

The circumstances of Baby J’s death were examined in a separate child safeguarding case at an English court in 2016. In that ruling, the judge expressed surprise that a serious case review had not been carried out in Scotland.

The judge said the mother and father had conceded they were the only possible perpetrators of the injury on Baby J.

The couple, who were aged 18 and 19 at the time, had moved to Scotland in a bid to avoid scrutiny from social services in a town in England.

Conservative MSP Russell Findlay raised the case during First Minister’s Questions.

He said: “In his short life he suffered multiple broken bones and other injuries. In this ruling, a judge said these could only have been inflicted by his parents.

“No one has been held to account.”

The first minister said: “It is really important in these circumstances that all lessons are learned fully. There are already independent processes in place to ensure that is the case.”