STV NewsA trial has heard of the “unclean” conditions a three-month-old baby was subjected to prior to her death, including living in a home filled with insects.
Courtney Gartshore is accused of killing her baby Dahlia-Rose in September 2023 in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
At the High Court in Aberdeen, detective sergeant Mark McRobb described the cot in the bedroom of Gartshore’s home as looking like it “had been used for storage rather than a child to sleep in”.
An image of the bedroom was shown to jurors, which showed the cot, next to the bed, filled with clothing and bedding. The bed was unmade with an electrical extension lead and a game controller lying on top next to a dummy.
When asked by the prosecutor, advocate depute Alan Cameron, to describe the condition of the bedroom, detective sergeant McRobb, replied: “I remember it being warm, the floor space being cluttered and unkempt and having to take care walking around the bed.
“Insects were apparent in the room and house, like small flies throughout the house, both alive and dead.”
A number of other images were shown to jurors, including filled rubbish bags at the top of the stairs landing and rubbish piled up in the kitchen.
A carrycot covered by a blanket on the landing outside the front of the property was also shown.
Mr Cameron asked detective sergeant McRobb if he looked inside the carrycot and what he saw when he removed the blanket.
He replied that “there was a child inside the carrycot.
“The child was no longer alive.”
Courtney Gartshore is accused of “culpably and recklessly” causing Dahlia-Rose to be subjected to “significant and sustained” heat on her head and body from a hairdryer.
It is alleged that her injuries were so severe that she died as a result.
Gartshore faces a separate accusation of wilfully neglecting Dahlia-Rose.
She denies all the charges against her.
Detective sergeant McRobb returned to the property days later with two forensic biologists following the post-mortem examination which found that the baby had suffered burn injuries.
Detective sergeant was asked to go back to the property as the hairdryer was a potential source of heat and was of interest to the inquiry.
An image shown to jurors showed that the hairdryer could reach from where it was plugged in to the cot, which was at the other side of the bed.
The trial at the High Court in Aberdeen continues.
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