Mum murdered baby daughter before trying to blame death on other child

A mum has been convicted of murdering her baby daughter after trying to blame the death on another child.

Nicole Blain was found guilty of killing Thea June Wilson at a flat in Greenock, Inverclyde, on July 14, 2023.

She shook the baby and inflicted horrific head injuries on her.

The stricken child was found to have three separate fractures to the skull, damage to the brain, and bleeding to her eyes.

Blain was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Judge Lord Scott told her: “You have been convicted of murder – a crime for which the only sentence is life imprisonment.”

The jury found Blain guilty of murder by a majority. She sobbed and shouted to a support worker, “Tell my dad I love him”, as she was led away.

Blain will return to court for sentencing on May 28.

‘Never in a million years’

Nicole Blain at the High Court in Glasgow. Spindrift

Blain claimed she was awoken the afternoon of Thea’s death by a neighbour coming to her door.

The mum said she found Thea on the floor, without her blanket or nappy.

She told the court how Thea had been sleeping in her crib when she last saw her, before she also went for a nap.

She told the trial: “When I woke up, I was in a state of shock – that shocked state has stayed with me until today.”

Earlier in the trial, it was heard that Blain had told Thea’s paternal grandmother that another child was to blame.

But Blain said that, since she was asleep, she “did not know what happened” to her daughter and denied she would try to blame the other child.

Jurors heard from a social worker who visited Blain’s flat on the morning of the murder. Thea had been in her crib and Blain told the social worker how she was “tired”.

Later, after she learned Thea was taken to hospital, the social worker returned to see Blain.

Prosecutor Alan Cameron KC asked the woman: “Did you speak to her?”

The witness replied: “Yes. The decision was made by management to go up to see how she was.

“She was extremely distressed. The only thing I can recall her saying was ‘I do not know how I will forgive (another child) for this’ or words to that effect.”

Giving evidence herself, Blain had claimed that “never in a million years” would she have deliberately harmed the child.

She told jurors: “I can remember the trauma of finding my daughter. I will never get it out of my head. My baby died in my arms.”

The prosecution claimed any suggestion that another child could have caused the injuries was “nonsense”.

Blain denied this, adding: “In my eyes, (the other child) did not kill Thea. What happened to Thea was a tragic accident.

“The only thing to blame was me being asleep, and that is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life.”