Declan Hainey’s mother gets 15 years for murder

Kimberley Hainey, 37, who was found guilty of murdering her son in her flat in Paisley and concealing his body, was jailed for life yesterday and told she must serve a minimum of 15 years.

She was also given seven years for attempting to defeat the ends of justice by failing to report his death to the police. That sentence will run concurrently.

Afterwards, the Crown confirmed that a decision on whether to hold an inquiry into the toddler’s death will be made this month.

A report on the case, commissioned by Tim Huntingford, the independent chairman of the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee, on behalf of Renfrewshire Council and the NHS in Glasgow, will also be considered by officials.

Declan, who was last seen alive when he was only 15 months old, was discovered in the flat in March 2010, eight months later.

His body was “mummified” and medical experts said he had been dead for several months.

The cause of death remains unknown.

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said she was seeking a meeting with First Minister Alex Salmond to explore how best to address the “scandal” of child abuse.

Sentencing Hainey, 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.”

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 convicted of wilfully ill-treating, neglecting and abandoning the boy, 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.

Before sentencing, the Crown Office released shocking photographs of rooms inside the flat piled high with rubbish.

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

Lord Woolman told Hainey: “You were Declan’s carer. You did not allow others to get close to him. Instead, you isolated him from your family, your neighbours, your friends and from the welfare services.

“None of them thought that Declan’s life was at risk. You engineered that situation.”

He added: “You embarked on a systematic and elaborate course of conduct to prevent people knowing, or suspecting, that Declan was dead. It was a lengthy course of deceit that prevented proper inquiries being made.”

In mitigation, he acknowledged Hainey had had difficulty with drink and drugs and her son’s death was a “huge tragedy” for her, as she said she loved the boy “more than anything in the world”.

Hainey’s defence counsel, Edward Targowski, QC, said his client, a former heroin addict, denied killing the child. He said: “She is still adamant she had no involvement in the death. Her position is that she found Declan dead in the morning.”

Detective Inspector Maxine Martin said: “I am satisfied justice has been served. This has been a very traumatic time for Declan’s family, and I sincerely hope that they can now try and move on.”