A north-east teenager who assaulted a baby has narrowly avoided jail.
Shane Baird was placed under supervision this morning for two years and ordered to carry out 170 hours of unpaid work after he previously admitted grabbing hold of the infant’s leg and squeezing it.
The tiny limb was covered in bruises as a result and the baby girl was taken to hospital for a series of tests, including a CT scan and multiple X-rays, to ensure she had not been left with broken bones.
Baird admitted carrying out the attack in January last year at an address in Aberdeenshire and sentence was deferred for background reports to be carried out.
This morning he appeared in the dock to be sentenced.
Last month fiscal depute Anne MacDonald told the court the child had been in good health and had no visible injuries in the days leading up to the assault.
She said Baird, of Carnegie Crescent, St Combs, had offered to look after the youngster and had prepared a bath for her.
Hours later the child’s mother was wakened by the little girl’s cries.
Miss MacDonald said the mother found this strange as her child was normally content unless she needed fed or changed.
The next day, she discovered finger-like bruises on the baby’s leg.
Miss MacDonald said: “The mother confronted Baird and asked if he had done something to her baby and he said at that stage ‘I might have held her too tightly after her bath’.
“Apart from the obvious bruising the mother said the child appeared to be fine.”
The court heard that the authorities were informed about the bruises and doctors ruled they were “non-accidental”, prompting a series of tests.
Miss MacDonald added: “A medical examination was carried out and it was confirmed that there was no other medical condition which could have caused these bruises and that the bruises were thought to have been highly suspicious.”