Boy meant nothing to me, dad tells murder trial

THE father of toddler Declan Hainey yesterday told a murder trial that he wanted nothing to do with his son or his mother.

David Gibson, 39, from Paisley, was giving evidence at the trial of Kimberley Hainey, 37, who denies murdering her son Declan.

Mr Gibson, a former staff nurse at the Southern General in Glasgow who was sacked for failing to disclose a conviction for breach of the peace, began a relationship with Hainey after they met in a psychiatric hospital.

He told the jury that he was there after his marriage broke up and he had a breakdown.

Mr Gibson said that he left Hainey while she was pregnant with his child. The last time he saw her was three and a half months before Declan was born.

The court was told he went to her parents’ home in Renfrew by car, but said he felt badgered and pressurised and, after seeing her briefly, said he was going to get some bottles of wine and never returned.

He was asked what he had offered financially to help Declan and replied: “Nothing.”

The court was told that on two occasions shortly after Declan’s birth he was asked to attend a case conference about him and refused to go.

Mr Targowski asked Mr Gibson: “Declan was not a high priority as far you were concerned, was he?” He replied: “No.” The QC then said: “Miss Hainey wasn’t a high priority either, was she?” He replied: “No, she wasn’t.”

Miss Hainey sobbed in the dock as Mr Gibson said this.

Mr Gibson was then asked if he had sent Declan a birthday card and he told the jury: “I didn’t know his birthday.”

Hainey is accused of assaulting, wilfully ill-treating and neglecting Declan over a 19-month period between 1 September 2008 and 30 March last year at Bruce Road, Paisley.

The Crown has charged Hainey with either murdering her son or alternatively of neglecting him by failing to provide medical care. The trial before Lord Woolman continues.