Mother who murdered baby daughter jailed for at least 19 years

A mother who murdered her baby daughter has been jailed for a minimum of 19 years after being given a life sentence.

Nicole Blain was found guilty last month of killing her 19-day-old child Thea Wilson, after she died from injuries that suggested blunt force trauma or being shaken.

Blain, 30, claimed she found her daughter lying on the floor of her Greenock flat on 14 July 2023, and said the newborn had been dropped by another child.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Judge Lord Scott dismissed that as a "patently absurd" version of events, and said Blain had carried out "catastrophic deadly violence" on Thea.

The judge added that Blain's claims were "a feeble attempt to evade responsibility" from her crimes.

Dozens of members of the public gathered in court, and cries of "monster" rang out in the public gallery as Blain was led away to begin her sentence.

Earlier this year a trial heard how Thea had suffered injuries including three skull fractures, brain damage and bleeding behind the eyes.

These were consistent with the baby being violently shaken and repeatedly hit off a hard floor, wall or furniture.

Blain insisted she woke up from a nap to find her daughter injured on the floor and that another child also in the flat had caused whatever happened to Thea.

However she was found guilty by a jury in April.

Lord Scott told her: "Despite what you have continued to say, what happened was no accident.

"It could not have been caused by a fall or being dropped. Despite persistent attempts to suggest it, what was done was not by another child, but by you, the main person responsible for the care of baby Thea.

"Rather than love, protect and nurture her, what Thea received from you was catastrophic deadly violence. What the jury decided beyond reasonable doubt was that, in an act that was intentional or wickedly reckless, you murdered a tiny defenceless baby."

Baby's 'piercing screams'

The trial heard in April that Blain had struggled with post-natal depression after Thea's birth.

On the day of Thea's death, she was visited in the morning by a social worker who said the baby was in her crib, and that the mother had complained of feeling tired.

Blain was due to take her daughter to visit her paternal grandmother Laura Wilson in Ayrshire later that day.

Early in the afternoon, Blain called Wilson's mobile phone. The call was answered by her husband Alan, who told the court he had heard a child screaming in the background.

He told the court: "I had never heard anything like it. It was piercing and extremely loud.

"I thought it was an older child doing it, but then I realised it was the baby who was screaming."

Alan Wilson said Blain told him that she did not know what to do, and "did not sound right". He suggested she call an ambulance.

When Blain met Wilson at the hospital later, Blain told her another child who was in the flat "had done it".

Blain had also spoken on the phone earlier to a support worker, telling her that another child had taken Thea out of the cot and dropped her.

When the support worker arrived at the flat she dialled 999 after seeing Thea was cold, not making any sounds and looked an "awful colour".

The baby died later that day in hospital.

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