Baby boy left disabled after being shaken hard

A woman has admitted shaking a seven-monthold baby so severely she left him disabled.

Nikki Irvine is now facing up to five years behind bars for shaking the child – who can’t be named for legal reasons – at a property in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, in 2013.

Irvine admitted her guilt at Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday.

She had originally been charged with assaulting the youngster at the house in the village’s Mimosa Road on 11 November, 2013. But she struck a deal with prosecutors which saw her plead guilty to an amended charge of causing his injuries by culpable and reckless conduct.

She admitted she did “culpably and recklessly shake [him] and did cause severe injury and permanent impairment”.

The 29-year-old, who walks with the aid of two crutches, showed no emotion in the dock as she pleaded guilty to leaving the baby disabled.

Irvine, of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, was represented by Advocate Paul Nelson during the short hearing, before Sheriff Colin Pettigrew.

Sheriff Pettigrew released her on bail after yesterday’s hearing, telling her she would be contacted by the social work department and would have to attend for an interview ahead of sentencing.

The charge Irvine admitted carries a maximum jail term of five years at Sheriff Court level, but it could be remitted to the High Court for a longer sentence.