Woman admits attack on toddler in Scotland

A woman has admitted assaulting a two-year-old boy because he would not eat his dinner - then leaving him for weeks with a serious brain injury.

Alix Bluck, 22, attacked the child at a house in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, in February last year. At the High Court in Glasgow, Bluck and her partner James Bluck, 35, also admitted a charge of child neglect. Judge Lord Bracadale continued bail for both and deferred sentence until next month at the High Court in Edinburgh. The court heard how the child often stayed with the Blucks at their home in Kilmarnock.  In March last year, salesman William McLeod visited the property to measure for windows and doors.

'Romanian orphans'

 Mr McLeod spotted a young boy lying in a room, which had few toys in it and no furniture apart from a mattress. Prosecutor Sheena Fraser said Mr McLeod later described the bruised child as "lying there staring at the ceiling".  The salesman added: "I immediately got visions of posters or adverts years ago of Romanian orphans just lying or sitting on mattresses."  Mr McLeod also witnessed the toddler having a seizure and later reported what he had seen to his manager.

Another sales representative visited the Blucks the following day and heard crying from upstairs, which James Bluck told her to ignore.  When the woman raised concerns the boy could swallow his tongue, Alix Bluck replied: "I've checked before - he doesn't swallow his tongue."  The boy had another seizure which led to him being taken to hospital on 11 March.  Medics noted the child had multiple bruising and was "grossly underweight".

Prosecutor Ms Fraser said: "He was reported by James Bluck to be clumsy and to fall a lot. The bruising was described as being of various ages."  The child was transferred to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital, where a CT scan revealed haemorrhages on both sides of his brain, which required surgery.

Boy pushed

 The court heard it was "considered unlikely" the injuries resulted from a fall a few days before.  On 13 March, James Bluck contacted police to say his partner had told him she was responsible for the boy being hurt.

Alix Bluck later told officers that she had asked for help from the social work department, but had not received any.  She told how she had pushed the boy twice at the beginning of February and that his head had hit the floor.  Ms Fraser told the court: "She said this happened after she had lost her temper."

Alix Bluck said one incident was after the child started screaming when told to go to his room because he would not eat his dinner.  The second was after he had used the floor of his bedroom as a toilet.

The court was told the haemorrhages were a number of weeks old with "possible signs of re-bleeds".

James Bluck was also questioned by police and denied that he ever neglected the child.

BBC News