Woman spared jail after she left baby disabled

A WOMAN who shook a seven-month-old baby boy so severely she left him disabled after she dropped him down a flight of stairs has been spared jail.

Nikki Irvine, 29, had faced a lengthy sentence for shaking the child in a panic to rouse him while fearing he was dead following the accident at a flat in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire.

However, a sheriff said she did not deliberately try to harm the child and placed her on an 18 month community payback order.

Irvine, of Johnstone, shook the child, who was unconscious after falling down stairs after she slipped and dropped him, Paisley Sheriff Court heard.

The incident, which left the boy with bleeding on the brain and stunted growth, happened in November 2013.

Irvine had been charged with assault, but she admitted culpable and reckless conduct.

Procurator Fiscal depute Scot Dignan said that Irvine’s partner left her and their other children to go shopping. It was only when she phoned a friend, that she confessed that she had dropped the child.

The boy was transferred to hospital in Glasgow where a CT scan revealed blood clots on his brain.

Advocate Paul Nelson said Irvine had been frantic and feared the child might have been died. He said that she shook him to rouse him, but did not deliberately attack him.

He added that she accepted she should have immediately summoned emergency services.

Sheriff James Spy said: “I accept today you did not act deliberately and had no intent to harm.”