Ex-soldier who killed baby had 'intimate relations' with mother in hospital as doctors prepared to turn off life support

Gordon McKay admits killing six-month-old Hayley Davidson by repeatedly shaking her

Five-month-old Hayley Davidson suffered a bleed on her brain and multiple fractures (Police Scotland)

A mother had "intimate relations" with the former soldier who subsequently admitted to killing her baby daughter, as doctors prepared to turn off her life support.

Catherine Davidson and Gordon McKay were caught by a policewoman who entered the family room to tell them five-month-old Hayley was about to die, a court heard.

McKay, 38, has admitted killing Hayley by repeatedly shaking her.

Ms Davidson seemed more concerned about McKay than her daughter while she lay dying from a catastrophic bleed on the brain, the High Court in Livingston heard.

McKay was originally charged with murdering Hayley while he was looking after her at his home in Buckhaven, Fife, on Valentine’s Day 2016.

He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of culpable homicide earlier this week and now faces an “inevitable” prison sentence.

Adjourning the case for background reports, judge Lord Uist told McKay he would pass sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh on 10 May.

Jane Farquharson, prosecuting, said Ms Davidson, who lived a few doors away from McKay in Buckhaven, had developed an “obsessive” relationship with him when she split from Hayley’s father.

She said the pair denied taking drugs but forensic tests showed they smoked cannabis together with Hayley in the room the night before the youngster was fatally injured.

Ms Farquharson said Ms Davidson left Hayley alone with McKay for an hour to get her two older daughters ready for a planned day out with her grandmother.

Later that morning Ms Davidson got a text message from McKay saying: “Come quick!” She ran along to his house with her two daughters.

Ms Farquharson said: “Mrs Davidson walked into the living room where she found the accused leaning over her daughter Hayley, administering CPR.

“She describes screaming at her partner: ‘What happened?’ and he replied: ‘Phone an ambulance, she’s not breathing!’ which she did from his mobile telephone.”

She said the call handler instructed McKay how to perform age-appropriate CPR by placing Hayley on a hard surface.

Paramedics who arrived within seven minutes found Ms Davidson in a distressed state and McKay giving CPR to Hayley, who was “pale, floppy and unresponsive”.

Before the ambulance had arrived, she said, McKay had told his partner that he had left Hayley alone to run a bath.

“When he returned to check on Hayley she had wriggled down the beanbag. He stroked her face and found her unresponsive. Mr McKay then described picking Hayley up and giving her a shake.”

In response to police questioning at hospital, he described shaking the baby three or four times by holding her shoulders, and demonstrated what he had done, the court heard.

Ms Farquharson said: “He described her head as whipping backwards and forwards. His demonstration elicited an immediate response from Catherine Davidson: ‘Are we talking about shaky baby syndrome?’”

Prompted by his disclosures, doctors carried out scans which indicated a bleed around little Hayley’s brain consistent with a significant head trauma, and in particular a shaking type injury.

Ms Farquharson added: “The bleed to her brain was not a slow one and Hayley’s symptoms would have been obvious following injury. Within the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh the nature and number of Hayley’s historical injuries were confirmed, as was the nature and mechanism of her life-threatening head injury.”

Medical experts diagnosed a “non-survivable head injury” and on 17 February, after brain stem tests confirmed no activity, care was withdrawn and Hayley died.

Ms Farquharson said the baby’s mother “seemed more concerned for the welfare of and attentive to, Mr McKay” than tending to the needs of her critically injured daughter.

The prosecutor also referred to a police statement in which a family liaison officer describes interrupting "intimate relations" within the family room as she went to tell Ms Davidson Hayley's life support machine was going to be switched off.

“At the time of Hayley’s death Mrs Davidson held her daughter in her arms. After a few minutes she indicated she needed to be with Mr McKay,” the statement said.

Ms Farquharson revealed that Hayley had previously had hospital treatment for a broken arm on New Year’s Day 2016 – three months into McKay’s relationship with Ms Davidson.

She said: “Gordon McKay took responsibility for what he described as the ‘accident’ that caused it. His account was deemed consistent with her injury and the clinical team did not view the fracture as suspicious.

“Social services were notified and did not intervene. Fife protocol has now changed as a result of this case. Examination of Hayley upon her admission on 14 February 2016 during the time she spent in hospital prior to her death and scrutiny of the various X-rays and scans taken at this time, revealed a number of healing fractures over various parts of her body and of different ages.

“The process of reviewing X-rays has since changed in Fife and all X-rays of infants under 12 months will now be viewed by a paediatric radiologist.”

Solicitor advocate John Scott, defending, said McKay – who has two sons of his own living with his former partner in Inverness – was an ex-soldier who had served four years in the Army, including duty in the Middle East.

He said the defence was in the process of obtaining a psychiatric report to show whether he suffered PTSD as a result of his military service.

Deferring sentence, Lord Uist told McKay: “You have pled guilty to the grave crime of causing the death of a baby by shaking her. As Mr Scott has recognised on your behalf, this is bound to result in a custodial sentence.

“I must, however, before proceeding to sentence, obtain a criminal justice social work report on you as you have never previously served a custodial sentence. I am prepared to continue bail, but this must not be taken by you as a sign that a custodial sentence will not follow.”

McKay declined to comment as he left court with members of his family and was ushered into a waiting car by family members.