Woman attacked baby so violently he had injuries 'like a car crash'

A woman attacked a one-month-old baby so violently that the newborn was left with injuries doctors said were like those from a serious car crash.

Shaazia Arshad, 26, inflicted nearly 30 separate injuries on the baby boy.

Prosecutor Alistair McDermid said the baby had been born healthy and had no conditions that might have made his bones brittle.

A health visitor who checked him when he was three weeks old reported him well, calm when handled, and he had no visible injuries when a naked weight check was carried out.

On May 22, 2023, Arshad’s partner returned from taking a shower to find the baby crying and his left eyelid swollen.

While he was at work, Arshad rang him to say the baby’s “leg didn’t look right”. He drove home and noticed the baby’s leg was badly swollen from his knee to his ankle and was rock-hard and red.

He took the baby straight to the GP, where a doctor noticed the baby let out a “horrible” cry the instant he was taken out of his car seat and examined.

The baby was taken to hospital where he was assessed by paediatricians, X-rayed and scanned.

Mr McDermid said “multiple skeletal surveys” revealed that injuries “that had been inflicted” on him included a haemorrhaged and bruised eyelid, likely inflicted by blunt force trauma, 19 broken ribs, a broken right arm, two broken thighs, and tibia and fibula fractures on both legs.

Mr McDermid said: “Injuries of this type are those that would usually be expected in a significant road traffic collision.

“They would have caused this baby substantial pain.”

The court heard that throughout the baby’s time in hospital, various medical professionals attempted to obtain a history of events but Arshad was unable to explain how the baby came by his injuries.

The baby is said to have made a full recovery.

Arshad was arrested and failed to explain to police how the baby had been hurt, even when police put to her that her “lack of knowledge was impossible”.

Arshad, a first offender, now of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, pleaded guilty to assaulting the baby – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – to his severe injury.

John McBride, defending, said the facts as narrated by the prosecution were “accepted without issue”.

He said: “She accepts this is a very serious matter.”

As Arshad wept in the dock, Sheriff Wyllie Robertson deferred sentence until April 16 for reports, and continued bail.

He said: “A custodial sentence will clearly be at the forefront of the court’s consideration.”