Doctors feared that a critically ill baby might have been deliberately harmed the moment she was arrived at hospital in a “floppy and blue” state.
The infant was taken to Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH) on January 1, 2017, and was found to have bleeding on the brain and from her eyes.
Syeda Begum, 29, was babysitting the child at the time and is on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of putting her life at risk by “repeatedly shaking” her prior to calling an ambulance.
Begum denies causing the baby any harm and maintains that she found her “gasping for breath” after leaving her alone for 10 minutes, but expert witnesses have cast doubt on that version of events this week.
And yesterday, the jury heard of the concerns raised by the doctors who treated the baby in the days after she was admitted to a high-dependency unit.
Lynne McDonald, a specialist doctor in general paediatrics and part of the child protection team at RACH, became involved in the child’s treatment on January 3.
Dr McDonald said: “At first this was not a case for the child protection unit, but we had concerns it might become one.
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“The baby had come in seriously unwell, in a collapsed state, and there was no clear medical explanation for it.
“The doctor who initially treated her had been concerned from the outset that there might be issues here which would require the attention of the child protection team.”
Advocate depute Martin Richardson listed other possible reasons for the child’s condition, but Dr McDonald confirmed that tests had ruled them all out.
She added: “The findings of the scans caused us to be very suspicious that some deliberate harm had come to her, and that we would need to involve the police.”
Begum, 29, of Headland Court in Aberdeen, told investigators that she had been playing with the baby in the moments before she took ill – and insisted that it was only after being left alone that the child collapsed.
Eye doctor says baby’s damaged retinas probably caused by being shaken
The consultant opthalmic surgeon who performed tests on the baby’s eyes on January 5, Dr Aravind Reddy, also gave evidence yesterday.
Defence advocate Frances Connor suggested that the injuries found in the eyes of the infant could have been there for up to two weeks.
Dr Reddy said they could have been caused “within seven to 14 days” of the baby being admitted but said his training suggested that they “couldn’t be more than a few days old”.
