Man jailed for brutally attacking baby boy from the day he was born

A man convicted of brutal attacks on a baby from the day he was born has been locked up for eight and a half years.

William McAslan left the youngster with horror injuries due to his apparent “hatred” of the child.

The 40-year-old later moaned about “all the trouble caused” when the stricken baby had to be taken from the house in Glasgow’s Dalmarnock to hospital.

On Thursday, McAslan was jailed at the High Court in Glasgow after being convicted of assaulting the baby to his severe injury and to the danger of his life.

Prosecutors said the crime occurred 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.

He also failed to get appropriate medical help for the sick child.

Judge Michael O’Grady QC earlier stated how McAslan had put the boy through “100 days” of misery.

During sentencing, he told McAslan: “I remarked last time of the horror and utter wickedness of what you did to the baby.

“You remain defiant and, even now, you show no remorse and accept no responsibility.

“You are unable to muster any emotion beyond any which is wholly self-serving.

“I have now been appraised of the personal and physical consequences for the child.

“They are perhaps better than might have been expected – no thanks, of course, to you.

“The emotional consequences are unknown and perhaps incalculable, but are bound to be significant and possibly life-changing.”

The judge ordered the jail term to start after a sentence McAslan is currently serving.

As he was lead to the cells, McAslan remarked: “Thank you, my lord.”

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”.

The child remained under the care of an orthopaedic surgeon until January 2020.

McAslan 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 told prosecutor Lindsey Dalziel at a previous trial – aborted for legal reasons – that McAslan had been worried about the child when they went to hospital.

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.

McAslan will be supervised for three years on his release.