Care assistant faces jail after violently shaking baby boy and leaving him with shocking injuries

Jose Herreros carried out the horrifying attack on the nine-week-old baby boy at a house in Newtongrange, Midlothian, between May 27 and 30, 2022

A care assistant has admitted to violently shaking a baby, causing the infant severe injuries and is now facing a severe prison sentence. Jose Herreros, aged 26, inflicted harm on the nine-week-old child by forcefully grabbing his body, lifting him, and repeatedly giving him violent shakes at a residence in Newtongrange, Midlothian.

The attack left the young boy with 11 fractured ribs and breaks in both legs over the period between May 27 and May 30, 2022. Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that the infant amazingly has made a complete recovery from his appalling injuries.

Herreros entered a guilty plea for the assault which led to critical injury and endangered the child's life during his court appearance. Ahead of the hearing, prosecutors prepared a detailed account of the incident.

Fiscal depute Matthew Miller conveyed how the part-time carer was entrusted with the child while the mother was hospitalised in May last year. A routine health visit the next month revealed a bruise on the right cheek of the baby which later prompted a visit to the capital's Royal Hospital for Children.

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There, assessments uncovered additional bruising on the child's face and subsequent "skeletal surveys" exposed further traumas including multiple fractured ribs and leg fractures, reports Edinburgh Live.

The court heard that medical professionals found "no plausible medical explanation" for the child's injuries, concluding that they were the result of abusive behaviour. According to doctors, the baby's injuries indicated that they had been "gripped tightly and shaken", possibly over a brief period of 30 seconds, and required protection from further harm.

The child was placed in emergency foster care, and Herreros later contacted authorities to confess to the crime. In an email to police on June 28, 2022, he wrote: "Can you come and interview me, I think I did the ribs."

"I have shaken [the child] once and after hearing it was a shake I think it was me. It was ages ago but please come."

During an interview, he claimed: "I swear on [the child's] life it wasn't that hard."

Herreros was released on bail, with sentencing deferred until January next year pending social work reports.