The mother of the child allegedly assaulted by staff at an Aberdeenshire nursery cried as footage of the alleged assaults was played in court.
The 38-year-old woman – who cannot be named for legal reasons – told the court her son had immediately said “ouchy, ouchy” when she collected him from the nursery and that he was “pulling his arm away” from her.
On day two of the trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, it was said police became involved after a manager reviewed CCTV footage from inside the nursery.
Joseph Picker and Stacey Kerr – who both deny assaulting the boy between April and July 2021 – were suspended from the nursery and a police investigation was launched.
The Press and Journal cannot name the school due to laws protecting the identity of children involved in legal proceedings.
Mum noticed bruises
The boy’s mother told the trial the whole period was a “blur” and that she had been in shock after receiving a phone call from the nursery telling her there had been an incident involving her son and two staff.
She wept as she looked over the photographs taken of her son – which included bruising near his elbow and more on his upper hip.
She when she collected him from the day-care centre on July 14, he had seemed distressed, adding: “He said ‘ouchy, ouchy’ when I got to the gate to pick him up.
“I wasn’t told about anything that had happened or that he had hurt himself.”
She explained that it was usual practice to be given a yellow slip of paper if there had been any incidents and that she had bathed her child that morning and had not noticed any bruising on his arms.
“He was much more clingy that night,” she went on. “After we got the phone call, we were also asked to take him to hospital for an examination.
“I had noticed he had bruises on his upper leg near his hip and more around his elbows.”
Video footage was played of the nursery room where the boy was being cared for by Picker, 35, and Kerr, 29.
Manager’s evidence
Yasmin Gauld, 23, had just become manager of the nursery at the start of July and on July 11 had been sitting in her office when she heard the boy become visibly upset.
She told the court she asked him why he was upset and what was wrong: “He said sorry and went away to play with his friends. I went back to my office.”
Fiscal Alan Townsend asked if she had been told by Kerr or Picker that anything had happened to the boy, and she replied: “No”.
Later that week, on July 14, she heard more crying coming from the room and said it “seemed different” and “it was more of a scream”.
She said: “I went through quite promptly and found [the boy] and Joe Picker in the same space.
“[The boy] spoke to me and said ‘Joe hurt arm. Sore’.
“I explained to Joe that I would have to follow this up and he said to me ‘he always says this when he gets in trouble’.”
Ms Gauld then told the court she went back to her office to review the CCTV footage from the moment before she heard the scream and saw video of Picker being “rough” with the child.
She said: “He visibly looked annoyed at the child. That’s when I rang my operational manager.”
Picker, the court heard, was suspended the same day and Ms Gauld and her manager Amanda Smith stayed up into “the early hours” reviewing CCTV footage from the whole week and before.
Mum weeps as footage played to court
The next day Kerr was also suspended because, as Ms Gauld said: “We saw Stacey Kerr in the footage as well.”
Mr Townsend asked Ms Gauld how Kerr had reacted at being suspended.
The manager said: “She was visibly upset – that this was what had happened when she viewed herself on the camera.”
The court was played footage from July 14 and Picker is seen mopping the floor – the boy is playing by himself in his favourite spot.
Suddenly Picker goes over to the boy and apparently snatches off his hat and pins him to the floor.
The boy is released but Picker is seen to return a further seven times – pinning the boy down each time over a period of 28 minutes. During this time the boy is kept within his “quiet place” and not allowed to leave by Picker.
The boy’s mother, sitting in the public gallery, openly wept whilst watching the footage.
Fiscal Townsend asked Ms Gauld to describe the footage and at one point she said the boy’s head “bangs on the floor” as Picker drops him to the ground.
‘No restraining’ policy in force
Footage from July 12 was also played to Ms Gauld and she described Kerr as also “dropping him to the floor” and restraining him in “an unacceptable manner”.
Ms Gauld said there was a “no restraining” policy, which all employees agreed to during their induction process.
Picker’s defence agent Ian Woodward-Nutt told the court his client had accepted his behaviour did not comply with the operational plan and asked Ms Gauld if the policies had been changed since 2021. She replied: “No.”
The court also heard evidence from Dr Gordon Guthrie who had examined the child two days later at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
Dr Guthrie said the boy had normal bruises and scratches “typical” of children his age but bruising on his arms – he concluded – were not accidental.
“They had been inflicted,” he said.
Pair deny assaults
Kerr is alleged to have repeatedly assaulted the child by grabbing him, restraining him on the floor with her body, pushing him to the floor, pushing and pulling him and lifting him up – all to his injury.
Meanwhile, Picker is accused of assaulting the boy by repeatedly grabbing him, pushing, and pulling him, restraining him on the floor with his body, lifting him up, grabbing him by the head, kissing him on the head and pushing him, causing him to fall over, all to the child’s injury.
Kerr, of Balnagask Avenue, Aberdeen, and Picker, of Holburn Street, Aberdeen, both deny the charges.
The trial being heard by Sheriff Philip Mann will continue in June.
