The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Shaken baby left disabled for rest of life
Aman who inflicted devastating injuries on a 10-week-old baby after shaking the infant has been warned he faces jail.
Declan Walton left the baby boy critically ill after his assault and the child remains in hospital more than two years after the attack in Fife.
Walton, 31, told hospital staff he did not know what had caused the child’s injuries and claimed he had appeared normal until he went “floppy”.
Advocate depute Leanne Cross told the court: “All the medical evidence points to the child having suffered a traumatic event, most likely from shaking.”
Walton, of Woodstock Court, Glenrothes, admitted assaulting the victim to his severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life by shaking him or otherwise inflicting trauma to his head by means to the prosecutor unknown on June 5 2020.
He had originally faced a charge of attempting to murder the child but the Crown accepted his guilty plea to the reduced charge.
The baby’s identity cannot be made public.
The High Court in Edinburgh heard unemployed Walton – who has previous convictions for cocaine possession, road traffic offences and breaching a community payback order – has never previously been jailed.
Miss Cross said the child was in good health and “a happy baby” for the first 10 weeks of his life.
Moments after the attack, Walton began shouting: “He’s not responding. He’s not breathing.”
The child’s mother then found her son’s body was floppy and emergency services were alerted.
Paramedics were unable to locate a pulse on any part of the baby’s body.
The boy was taken to Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy.
The prosecutor said: “On arrival he was noted to be pale and floppy. He was not breathing on his own and required extensive resuscitation.”
A CT scan showed haemorrhaging within the head and the child was transferred for intensive care at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
The baby was weaned off ventilation and began to breathe on his own but required oxygen and regular suction.
He was later admitted to theatre for blood to be drained to relieve pressure on his brain.
Experts who examined the child came to the conclusion his condition was “highly suggestive of abusive head trauma”.
A further expert opinion was sought from a consultant neuroradiologist who concluded the findings could all be explained by an episode of non-accidental head trauma.
Walton denied ever
shaking the child in a fit of anger when he spoke to police.
The prosecutor said the child now had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy.
All areas of motor function were limited, he was fed through a tube and required two-to-one care.
The consultant in charge of his care said that, although brain injuries were very unpredictable, she considered it was highly unlikely he would ever be able to live independently.
Asking for bail to be continued, defence counsel Gareth Jones KC said that Walton “well understands the gravity of the situation he is in”.
He reserved mitigation until the case called again in the new year following the preparation of a background report.
The judge, Lord Weir, said: “The offence to which you have pled guilty is clearly of the first order of seriousness.”
The case was continued to the High Court in Inverness on January 9.
The judge agreed to continue bail for Walton.