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Pc's tears at attempt to save boy | |
(41 minutes later) | |
A policeman has told a court that he broke down in tears after a failed attempt at keeping a toddler alive. | |
Emergency services were called to a flat in Dundee on 16 March last year to try to help 23-month-old Brandon Muir. | |
His mother, Heather Boyd, 23, is accused of the culpable homicide of her son by not getting him medical help after he was assaulted. | |
Robert Cunningham, also 23, is accused of murdering the boy by assaulting him. Both deny the charges. | |
Pc David Gibson was part of a team of officers and ambulance staff called to help Brandon at a flat in Balunie Crescent. | |
He told the trial at the High Court in Glasgow: "I took a look at the child and saw that he was not moving. From previous such experience, I noticed that his eyes were not moving and were glazed. | |
"There was no pulse and breathing, but the body was quite warm. I decided that I would take charge and have the room cleared immediately." | |
The officer said he felt paramedics took an "eternity" to arrive before they rushed Brandon to hospital. | |
The boy was was pronounced dead later that morning. I just remember seeing marks on the upper half of his legs. I noticed more around the hip area Sgt David Small | |
Pc Gibson eventually spoke to Ms Boyd, who claimed the child had been unwell and vomiting "brown liquid". She said a doctor had not been called. | |
He said he was suspicious about the incident and asked her if her partner abused drugs. She replied that she took heroin but her partner did not. | |
He was also told that if there were drugs they were kept out of Brandon's reach. | |
The jury heard that when Pc Gibson went out into the street he burst into tears. | |
Fellow officer, Sgt David Small, told the court that Brandon had been showing signs of death by the time he arrived. | |
He said: "I just remember seeing marks on the upper half of his legs. I noticed more around the hip area, but I am no expert in this field." | |
Sgt Small said that Mr Cunningham at one point asked if the area was a crime scene. | |
Ms Boyd and Mr Cunningham also face a charge of repeatedly and wilfully ill-treating Brandon between October 2007 and March 2008. | |
This includes an allegation that they used or allowed others to take cannabis and heroin at three properties. | |
Boyd is accused of assaulting her son at Douglas Family Centre in Dundee on 5 March last year. | |
Cunningham is also charged with repeatedly and wilfully ill-treating another young boy at properties in Dundee between October 2007 and March 2008. |