‘I would never hurt my baby’, mum tells trial

Fife woman cross-examined as Stephen Graham denies shaking and throwing infant on to hard surface

A Fife mother told a court she would never dream of hurting her child during the trial of a man accused of shaking and throwing the infant.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was being cross-examined at the jury trial of Stephen Graham at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court.

Graham, 27, denies squeezing the baby’s torso, repeatedly shaking him and throwing him on to a hard surface, to his severe injury and to the danger of his life, at an address in Fife between April 20 and April 28 2014.

The baby was three weeks old at the time of the alleged offence. He suffered a fractured skull and broken ribs.

At an earlier hearing, the woman told the court she did not get much help with the care of her tiny son.

Solicitor advocate Chris Fyffe asked the woman if there were times when she would become “fractious” because the baby was crying.

She replied: “No, I was never like that.”

Mr Fyffe asked how long the little boy would cry for.

“I couldn’t put a time on it. It was nearly three years ago,” said the witness.

The solicitor advocate referred to analysis of the woman’s mobile phone, which showed she had sent a text message saying: “Little b **** r up and crying so wrapped him in shawl.”

Mr Fyffe asked the witness about “marks” the woman discovered on the baby.

“He seemed to be covered in marks when you were looking after him,” he said.

The witness replied: “I would never dream of hurting my child, if that’s what you’re referring to.”

The woman had made notes about what happened around the time of the alleged offence and these were read in court.

Mr Fyffe asked why she had omitted some details.

She said: “My little boy had just been taken off me. I was in complete and utter shock. The reason I was taking notes was because my head was all over the place.”

The trial before Sheriff Thornton continues.