A mother broke down in tears yesterday as she described the moment she thought her baby son was dead after leaving him in the care of a man accused of beating him.
The woman gave evidence during the first day of the trial of Kevin Edwards.
The 33-year-old is accused of assaulting the three-month-old, causing him permanent disfigurement and putting his life in danger.
But Edwards denies the offence and lodged a special defence of incrimination at the start of the jury trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
The mother of the child – who cannot be named for legal reasons – told the court how she left her son with Edwards one day in August 2012 while she took a trip to ASDA at the Beach Boulevard.
She said that before she left the house, her baby was perfectly fine, and that she left him feeding from a bottle in Edward’s arms.
When she returned, he handed her back the baby boy, telling her he needed his nappy changed.
But she said that her son was not how she remembered him.
“He just wasn’t the happy baby that I left,” she said.
“I realised he wasn’t compos mentis. He seemed lifeless.”
The woman said she drove her baby to the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital, where doctors and nurses rushed to help.
“He was draped over my arms,” she said.
“I actually thought he was dead.”
The court heard how the child was kept in hospital for more than two weeks, and that afterwards a police investigation was launched into how the child sustained his injuries.
The mother said her son, two years on, now had problems with his vision.
Edward’s defence counsel, Ian Duguid QC, questioned the woman about other things that had happened to her child that August afternoon, including his big brother hitting him across the head with a large rattle and him being poorly carried downstairs by a young boy.
He also pointed out that there was evidence to come in the trial that revealed the child had sustained an injury before August which had caused a hemorrhage.
He asked her if it was true that she told doctors that his client, of 14 Kemp Street, Aberdeen, was not responsible for the state her son was in.
“I did say that,” she said.
The trial, before Sheriff William Summers continues today.