Mother recorded man on trial for attempted murder of her baby son

A mother wept as she told a court how she used her mobile phone to secretly record a man who allegedly attempted to murder her 11-month-old baby boy.

The trial is taking place at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told jurors how she recorded Ryan Devaney after her son started acquiring a series of unexplained injuries.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard yesterday how she had allowed 28-year-old Devaney to care for the child at her house in Dundee on a number of occasions.

But she said that the infant had been left with black eyes, a carpet burn and red marks on his face.

The supermarket worker wept as she told a jurors how she became suspicious of what was happening when she was not around the child who was with Devaney.

The woman told the court that before going on a shopping trip one day, she decided to make a recording of what was happening in her home when she was not there.

She told the court that she wanted to do this because she wanted to find out what was going on between Devaney and her child.

The woman told the court: “Alarm bells were ringing. I didn’t ever think Ryan would hit him. But I had a feeling that something wasn’t right.

“I put the phone on record and hid it under the bed.”

The woman was giving evidence on the second day of proceedings against Devaney, of Provost Road, Dundee. He denies attempted murder and nine other charges.

Yesterday, the woman told the jury that she had ended a relationship with her child’s father in early 2015.

She told prosecution lawyer Stewart Ronnie that her son was “great” and “slept all night”.

The court heard that she allowed Devaney to start looking after her child in September 2015.

However, the child started to display injuries. On one occasion, the child was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for treatment.

The mother said she became suspicious and decided to make a secret voice recording of Devaney with the child.

The recording was played to jurors yesterday. Jurors heard the sound of a Mickey Mouse cartoon being played on a television and the sound of a baby crying.

The trial continues.