Mother weeps as court shown nursery footage

The mother of a child allegedly assaulted by staff at an Aberdeenshire nursery cried as footage of the alleged assaults was played in court.

The 38-year-old woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – told the court her son, four, had immediately said “ouchy, ouchy” when she collected him from the nursery and that he was “pulling his arm away” from her.

On day two of the trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, it was said police became involved after a manager reviewed CCTV footage from inside the nursery.

Joseph Picker and Stacey Kerr – who both deny assaulting the boy between April and July 2021 – were suspended and a police investigation was launched.

The boy’s mother told the trial the whole period was a “blur” and she had been in shock after receiving a phone call from the nursery telling her there had been an incident involving her son and two staff.

She wept as she looked over the photographs taken of her son – which included bruising near his elbow and more on his upper hip.

When she collected him from the day-care centre on July 14, he had seemed distressed, adding: “He said ‘ouchy, ouchy’ when I got to the gate to pick him up.

“I wasn’t told about anything that had happened.”

She explained that it was usual practice to be given a yellow slip of paper if there had been any incidents and that she had bathed her child that morning and had not noticed any bruising on his arms.

“After we got the phone call, we were also asked to take him to hospital for an examination,” she said.

“I had noticed he had bruises on his upper leg near his hip and more around his elbows.”

Video footage was played of the nursery room where the boy was being cared for by Picker, 35, and Kerr, 29.

Yasmin Gauld, 23, had just become manager of the nursery at the start of July and on July 11 had been in her office when she heard the boy become upset.

She told the court she asked him why he was upset and what was wrong: “He said sorry and went away to play with his friends. I went back to my office.”

Fiscal Alan Townsend asked if she had been told by Kerr or Picker if anything had happened to the boy, and she replied: “No.”

On July 14, she heard more crying coming from the room. She said: “I went through and found the boy and Joe Picker in the same space.

“The boy spoke to me and said ‘Joe hurt arm. Sore’.

Ms Gauld then told the court she went back to her office to review the CCTV footage from the moment before she heard the scream and saw video of Picker being “rough” with the child.

Picker, the court heard, was suspended the same day and Ms Gauld and her manager Amanda Smith stayed up into “the early hours” reviewing CCTV footage from the whole week and before.

The next day Kerr was suspended because, as Ms Gauld said: “We saw Stacey Kerr in the footage as well.”

The court was played footage from July 14 and Picker is seen mopping the floor – the boy is playing by himself.

Suddenly Picker goes over to the boy and apparently snatches off his hat and pins him to the floor. The boy is released but Picker is seen to return a further seven times – pinning the boy down.

The boy’s mother wept watching the footage.

Kerr, of Balnagask Avenue Aberdeen, and Picker, of Holburn Street, both Aberdeen, deny the charges.

The trial continues in June.