Mother jailed for killing son on ‘flawed evidence’

Published on 17/01/2013 00:49

CRUCIAL evidence which helped convict a drug-addict mother of murdering her 
toddler son was flawed, appeal judges were told yesterday.

By the time doctors were able to examine the mummified body of Declan Hainey they could not determine a cause of death.

But, at a later trial, expert 
witnesses who were called by the Crown said that telltale marks on his bones were signs of malnutrition.

A jury found heroin addict Kimberley Hainey, 38, guilty of murder – abandoning her son for long periods of time without food or drink in their squalid flat in Paisley while she partied, drank and took drugs.

She was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 15 years before she can ask the parole board to free her.

At the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh, Lord Clarke – sitting with Lords Mackay of Drumadoon and Drummond Young – have begun hearing Hainey’s attempt to overturn her convictions for murder and for attempting to pervert the course of justice by keeping Declan’s body hidden.

The hearing is expected to continue today.

It is likely that the judges will give their ruling in writing at a later date.