Woman who killed son is jailed for life

A woman who murdered her toddler son and concealed his body was today jailed for life and told she must serve a minimum of 15 years.

Kimberley Hainey, 37, was found guilty by a majority verdict last month of murdering her son Declan at a flat in Bruce Road, Paisley, Renfrewshire.

She was also convicted of failing to report Declan's death to police or other authorities and of concealing his body at the flat.

At the High Court in Glasgow, she was handed the life sentence and told she will spend a minimum of 15 years behind bars.

Hainey was also sentenced to seven years for attempting to defeat the ends of justice, which will run concurrently with the 15 years.

The court heard that the child's body was "mummified" when it was found in March 2010.

Sentencing her, Lord Woolman said: "Declan's first birthday took place in April 2009, he appeared to have all his life in front of him.

"He was surrounded by a loving family and people thought you were a loving mother. A few months later he was dead."

The cause of Declan's death is not known but he is said to have last been seen alive when he was 15 months old.

His body was discovered at the flat on March 30, 2010 when he would have been 23 months old. Experts said he had been dead for several months.

Hainey pretended the child was being cared for by family members or that he was at nursery, leading people to believe he was still alive.

Following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Hainey was found guilty of wilfully ill-treating, neglecting and abandoning the toddler, and exposing him in a manner that was likely to cause him suffering or injury to his health.

She left him alone for "excessive" periods of time and failed to provide him with adequate nourishment and fluids.

Yesterday, the Crown Office released photographs of rooms inside the flat piled with rubbish.

One shows what appears to be a travel cot or playpen filled with empty plastic bottles and debris while others show apparently mouldy milk bottles.

PA