A babysitter accused of shaking an infant in her care wept as she gave evidence at her own trial, insisting “I could never harm a child”.
Syeda Begum, 29, took to the witness stand yesterday at the trial at the High Court in Aberdeen.
The infant was taken to Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital on January 1 2017, and was found to have bleeding on the brain and from her eyes.
Begum, who was babysitting the child at the time, is accused of shaking the child. She denies the charge against her.
Advocate depute Martin Richardson suggested Begum may have been tired from the night before, or that the child may have been grumpy or unwell, adding: “Whatever
the reason, you lost control and you shook her, didn’t you?”
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Begum replied: “No I didn’t. I could never harm a child.”
Mr Richardson said: “It was a momentary lapse of control, wasn’t it?”
She said: “No.”
The advocate depute continued: “And afterwards you panicked didn’t you?”
Begum replied: “I panicked when I saw her.”
Mr Richardson said: “You panicked because you were upset by what you had done to her.”
She said: “No.”
An emotional Begum was then questioned by defence advocate Frances Connor, who suggested police had given her an “out” during her interview, saying: “If you dropped her, tell us.”
She said: “Why didn’t you take the out that was being offered to you?”
Begum replied: “I didn’t do anything.”
Asked why she didn’t just tell the police she had accidentally dropped the infant, Begum said: “Because nothing like that happened.”
Ms Connor asked: “Did you do anything to her to cause her to become unwell?”
Begum replied: “No I didn’t.”
Yesterday the defence closed its case, and closing speeches from both the prosecution and the defence were expected to take place today.
The trial, before Lord Uist, continues.