‘Man jumped on pregnant mother’s belly’

A mother has told how a man accused of trying to murder three pregnant women jumped up and down on her baby bump “like it was a trampoline”.

The woman also claimed James Paterson, 23, throttled her three times until she blacked out during a string of violent attacks that began when she was between four and five months pregnant. Paterson denies trying to kill the women, raping two of them and attacking two newborn babies at addresses in Fife and Edinburgh.

Yesterday, the 25-year-old mother told the High Court in Aberdeen that Paterson attacked her when he came home from a night out as she lay in bed.

She said: “He just jumped on the bed and kicked his right foot up in my face. He then started kicking me in the stomach, jumping on my belly. I said, ‘you’re going to have to stop, you’re going to kill the baby.’

“He said ‘I’m not bothered.’ He jumped on my belly like it was a trampoline he was bouncing on.”

Paterson has lodged a special defence of self defence against the woman and another of his alleged victims. The trial, before Lord Malcolm, continues.