March 2016 Man jailed after leaving baby blind and brain damaged A Midlothian man who repeatedly threw a nine-week-old baby in the air and shook him, causing him to suffer “catastrophic” injuries, has been jailed for four years. Jay Bell tossed the tot in the air, causing the baby to hit its head on a wall and a Moses basket before falling to the floor. He then repeatedly shook the baby until it began to cry. Jay Bell’s actions on 26 July 2013 caused the infant to suffer brain bleeding, retinal haemorrhages, kidney damage and a broken rib and fractured ankle. As a result of the brain injury, the child suffers from cerebral palsy and is now registered blind and has difficulty using his limbs Bell, 23, from Mayfield in Dalkeith, last month admitted to two charges. He pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless conduct towards the child to his severe injury, permanent impairment and to the danger of his life and a second charge of wilfully neglecting the baby and failing to seek medical attention for him. Passing sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, judge Paul Arthurson QC described the offences as “extremely serious”. The baby did not receive hospital treatment for about two weeks and Bell took about five months to reveal what had happened to the child when he was in his care. The court heard the child was eventually admitted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children on 10 August 2013 and it took Bell until December that year to disclose fully what had happened to the baby. Had the child gone to hospital straight after suffering the brain injury, medical intervention may have limited the impact of that injury, the judge said.