The grandmother of the infant killed by Thomas Haining said that “not even a life sentence” would be a suitable punishment for the death of little Mikayla.
Jayne Urquhart was speaking after Haining, 21, was jailed for eight years for shaking his three-week-old child to death.
Mrs Urquhart travelled from Inverness with husband Ian and daughter Shannon, who is Mikayla’s mum, to see Haining get sent to prison at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
The 52-year-old grandmother said he showed a lack of remorse for killing the infant while he was supposed to be caring for her at the family’s home in Inverness.
Haining was originally charged with murder but prosecutors accepted a lesser charge of culpable homicide.
Mrs Urquhart told The Sun: “No amount of years will bring Mikayla back. He’s going away on an eight-year holiday that we’re paying for.
“But every day I still have to wake up and deal with not having my granddaughter any more.
“It’s not long enough — but not even life would be enough for me.”
Haining was supposed to be caring for 23-day-old Mikayla when mum Shannon went to bed at their home in Inverness in June 2017.
He violently shook the little girl during the night, battering her head off a door. She suffered a fractured skull and smashed ribs.
Passing sentence, Lord Pentland said: “Your immediate reaction was to protect yourself rather than to seek help for Mikayla.”