iStockA man has been convicted of brutal attacks on a baby from the day he was born.
William McAslan left the child with horror injuries while apparently caring for him at a house in Dalmarnock, Glasgow.
The 40-year-old later moaned about “all the trouble caused” when the stricken baby had to be taken to hospital.
On Wednesday, McAslan was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of assaulting the tiny victim to his severe injury and to the danger of his life.
Prosecutors said he hurt the baby on various occasions between January and April 2019.
The charge stated McAslan struck the boy, squeezed and pressed his body, twisted and shook him as well as inflicting blunt force trauma.
McAslan also failed to get appropriate and timely medical help for the sick child.
Judge Michael O’Grady QC told him the baby had suffered “100 days” of misery at his hands.
The judge added: “He had fracture and fracture upon fracture.
“I have watched you in the dock and you have displayed not a flicker of remorse or regret during the most distressing of evidence.
“The child was greeted with resentment and hatred, your word, in the most contemptible regime of violence that has been my misfortune to come across.
“The word horrifying barely covers it. The sad fact is no sentence can turn back time.”
McAslan – who denied the accusations – repeatedly shook his head after being found guilty.
He was remanded in custody pending sentencing next month.
McAslan had previously stood trial earlier this year, but the case was halted due to legal reasons.
Jurors heard how the boy was taken to hospital in late April 2019.
The baby’s mum noticed her son’s arm was “limp and swollen”.
McAslan joined her, but he complained: “Look at all the trouble she has caused by taking him to hospital.”
McAslan was also said to have stated he “could not be a***d with all the s***e”.
He eventually ended up charged with harming the youngster.
During a police probe, a young boy recalled seeing McAslan with the baby.
The witness told officers: “He was holding the baby under his chin, patting his back.
“I could then hear what I thought were slaps, skin on skin, three slaps.
“The baby let out a big scream before I heard another couple of slaps.”
The same witness also spoke of another time when he visited the flat where the child lived.
He recalled birthday cake “all over the floor”, drawers pulled out and McAslan sleeping in bed.
Jurors also heard a series of phone calls made by McAslan while he was held in prison.
In one, he claimed: “I never hit him, I never have.”
He later added: “I am hiding f*** all. I am guilty for none of it. Make sure everyone knows that.”
The child’s mum gave evidence in court.
She insisted at the previous trial that McAslan had been worried about the child when they went to hospital.
Prosecutor Lindsey Dalziel put to her: “Did he change from being concerned?”
She replied: “He has been concerned about the child since then.”
The woman said at one stage how she had “no hesitation” leaving McAslan with her son.
McAslan was also found guilty of assaulting another young boy between 2006 and 2015.
The charge included accusations that he hit the youngster and forced him to stand naked in a common close.
Sentencing was deferred for reports.
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