BRIAN PENN SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON FOR KILLING NEWBORN SON IN AYR
In June 2021, Brian Penn, a 30-year-old man from Ayr, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the fatal assault on his seven-week-old son, Kaleb Penn.The tragic incident occurred at Penn's home in Ayr on November 1, 2017.
Penn attempted to shift blame onto the baby's mother, Kelly Ann Cope, claiming she was responsible for Kaleb's injuries.
However, evidence showed that Penn violently shook Kaleb and caused blunt force trauma, leading to severe brain injury and fractured ribs.
The child was found to have a skull fracture, brain bleed, and multiple broken ribs.
Initially, Penn told medical personnel that Kaleb had suffered a "choking episode," but the baby passed away two days later in hospital.
At the High Court in Glasgow, Penn was convicted of culpable homicide and assault causing serious injury and risking life.
He had originally faced charges of murder and attempted murder.
Delivering the sentence, Judge Lord Weir stated, "Penn inflicted wounds on a vulnerable baby lost forever to his family forever.
The injuries you inflicted were of sufficient seriousness to appear on X-ray.
The physical assaults you carried out were opposed to the care Kaleb needed, and his life was tragically cut short." Kaleb’s mother, Kelly-Ann Cope, aged 31, testified that Penn woke her in the morning of Kaleb’s death, asking her to call emergency services.
She recounted, “He said the wean wasn’t breathing.
I was in bed and Kaleb was in his arms at the bedroom door.” When asked about Kaleb’s condition, Cope said, “I put my hand on his heart and it was still beating but I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t breathing.
His eyes were rolling to the back of his head.” She described feeling unable to watch medical crews care for her son and help rush him to hospital.
Cope was questioned about her knowledge of the choking incident, which she described from the 999 call, saying, “Brian came in and I asked what happened and he said Kaleb choked on prune juice but I didn’t know more about it.” She later explained, “He said he patted his back and said he stiffened up, his body went flimsy then I realized he wasn’t breathing.” Cope also noted she was present when Penn told medical staff he had dropped Kaleb onto a changing mat weeks prior.
She denied causing the injuries, asserting, “I wouldn’t harm anyone, I couldn’t kill a spider.” Nurse Carol McNeill testified that she spoke with Penn upon Kaleb’s hospital admission, and he claimed that Kaleb had been feeding when a choking episode occurred, stating, “He (Kaleb) had vomited, but that it was not vomit.” Consultant neuropathologist Professor Colin Smith, aged 53, who examined Kaleb’s brain, testified that the injuries observed are consistent with severe trauma, such as a fall from a height or a road traffic incident.
He also indicated there was evidence of prior bleeding to the brain dating back seven to ten days before Kaleb’s death.
When asked if a fall from about 12 inches three weeks earlier could cause such brain injuries, Prof Smith responded, “It is possible.” Furthermore, he confirmed that the level of brain injury would likely have rendered Kaleb unresponsive, stating, “That’s my opinion.”
