Clarkston father jailed for killing his baby daughter

A father who killed his baby daughter four years ago before attempting to murder another infant boy has been jailed.

Ian Ruddock was jailed at Edinburgh's High Court for murdering his five-week-old daughter. Picture: Ian Georgeson

Ian Ruddock, 34, had stood trial accused of murdering five-week-old Olivia at his family’s home in Clarkston, Glasgow, in 2011.

But a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found him guilty on a majority verdict of a reduced charge of culpable homicide against his daughter. He was also convicted of the attempted murder of the boy in 2013.

On various occasions between January and March in 2011, he repeatedly shook his daughter, causing her to suffer extensive rib and head injuries.

He managed to evade justice and he attacked another child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at an address in Glasgow two years ago.

He caused the boy to suffer a fractured skull and fractured ribs during an attack which prosecutors treated as attempted murder.

Ruddock, of Springhill Gardens, Shawlands, Glasgow, was finally caught after police, tipped off by medics, launched an investigation shortly after the second infant’s injuries were discovered.

They managed to bring together enough evidence which allowed prosecutors to bring the keen hockey player to court.

Ruddock denied any wrong doing and claimed to be a doting dad who loved to be around children.

But following a seven week long trial, a jury concluded that Ruddock was a cowardly killer.

Following conviction, judge Lord Bannatyne deferred sentence so the court could obtain reports about his background.

The judge remanded Ruddock, who had been on bail, in custody.