Dundee man goes on trial accused of baby shaking attempted murder

A High Court jury has heard how a man accused of shaking and trying to murder a four-month old baby in Dundee claimed the child had a seizure.

The youngster underwent an emergency operation for a bleed on the brain after being rushed to Ninewells Hospital.

Marc Lannen, 34, is on trial at the High Court in Dundee accused of attempting to murder the boy on August 23 2018.

The child’s mother – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – alleged Lannen initially told her the child had suffered a seizure  then, about a year later, that the youngster had fallen from a couch.

Rushed to hospital

The woman had been out for a number of hours with her brother at a tanning salon, McDonald’s, a car wash and a supermarket.

She said her son had been “totally fine” during the day and she left Lannen sitting on a couch with the child in a bouncer in front of him at about 1.30pm.

She realised she had a missed call and messages from Lannen and his mother and rushed to the hospital.

Giving evidence via videolink, the witness told the court: “He was all wired up and there were so many doctors in there.

“All I remember is walking into a room and Marc was leant over what was like a cot bed.

“I couldn’t go over because I was too upset.

“There was a point where me and Marc were in a room on our own.

“I asked him what had happened.

“He said he (the child) had a seizure, went really stiff, cold and went really floppy.”

In response to advocate depute Leanne McQuillan asking if Lannen said anything about what happened before the seizure, the woman said: “No, I genuinely don’t remember.”

Continuing health issues

After an operation at Ninewells, the child was taken to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh before being discharged later in the month.

The youngster’s mother alleged Lannen provided no further details about the incident.

She said that around a year later, she contacted social services and police after Lannen told her the child had actually fallen off a couch before becoming unwell.

Michael Meehan KC, defending, questioned why there was no police statement featuring that information.

The woman replied: “I said (to the police) ‘I have information I’d like to share’.

“They said they wouldn’t be taking it further. They said it was my word against his word. They weren’t interested.”

The court heard how the boy – now aged six – requires additional support at school and is regularly assessed by a consultant paediatrician.

The witness said the child – who required a second emergency operation a month after the injury – was “improving slowly but surely”.

Baby ‘lethargic and very still’

Lannen’s mother, Carol McQuillan, said her son called her with concerns about the child at around 6.30pm.

The 61-year-old said during a taxi journey to the address, Lannen told her over the phone the child was being sick, which she initially believed was a stomach bug.

However, she told him to phone an ambulance after seeing the youngster in person.

Ms McQuillan told the court: “He was lying on his back.

“He had no clothes on and had been wrapped in a towel because he had been sick.

“He was very lethargic and very still. There was a sob every now and again.

“He was quite pale, it was like his eyes weren’t open properly.

“I thought initially there was a wee spike in temperature but when I got there I thought there was something really wrong.”

Ms McQuillan said her son told her he had been preparing bottles in the kitchen when he heard the child crying.

The court was shown pictures from the kitchen of three clear bottles and steriliser.

Denies charges

Lannen, of Whitfield Rise, denies assaulting the child at an address in Dundee on August 23 2018 by shaking him, inflicting blunt force trauma to the head and cause injury to the head through unknown means.

It is alleged that this caused the child severe injury, permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment, endangered his life and was an attempt to murder him.

The trial before judge Lord Young continues.

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