A man who was the only adult in the house when a baby suffered severe head injuries told a court yesterday he had no idea how the youngster was hurt.
Kevin Edwards is on trial in Aberdeen accused of striking and shaking the three-month-old child, leaving him with serious head injuries usually seen after car accidents.
But the 33-year-old has lodged a special defence of incrimination, claiming he never lifted a hand to the baby that he cared about so much.
His jury trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday heard – word-for-word – what happened during a police interview shortly after Edwards was arrested in connection with attempting to murder the child.
The charge was later reduced to endangering the youngster’s life after he survived but suffered permanent damage to his sight as a result of the injuries he sustained.
DC Stuart Robinson, of Police Scotland’s family protection unit, told the court how Edwards said in his interview that he had been left alone with the newborn while the child’s mother went shopping for food one afternoon in August 2012.
Edwards said that although he was scared of being around such a small child, he was confident enough of being left in charge.
After feeding the baby boy, Edwards said he lay him down in his cot in a bedroom where two other young children were playing on a computer at the time.
When he returned to the room minutes later, he said that one of the children was capering about.
Edwards said he picked the baby back up just as his mother arrived home, and that he did not think there was anything wrong with him.
But within minutes, the panicked mother called for help, saying her son was “floppy” and pale, as if all the life had been sucked out of him.
The court previously heard that the mother knew something was wrong with her baby as soon as Edwards placed him in her arms.
The police officers told the accused that the child had suffered severe bleeding of the brain as a result of a blow to the head and had required “intensive” medical treatment.
Edwards denied he was the one who hurt him.
When asked if he knew who did harm the baby, he said he did not know.
“I didn’t see anyone do anything,” he said.
“He was in my care, but I never did anything to that bairn.”
He added that he probably should not have left the child alone in a room with two “hyper” children, but that he could not imagine they would do anything to cause the baby any harm.
The trial continues.