Man jailed for throttling baby

Edwards appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court

A sex offender has been jailed for two and a half years after he admitted throttling a baby which had been placed on the "at risk" register.

Robert Edwards, 46, had a long history of violence and sex crimes, including offences against young girls.

He had only been released from prison nine days prior to the attack on the 14-month-old child.

The mother, who has learning difficulties had asked Edwards to babysit the toddler along with two older children while she went to a local chip shop in Galashiels at 2230 BST on 22 March, 2002.

When the baby wouldn't stop crying, Edwards put his hand over the baby's mouth and pulled him tight against his chest so that he could not breathe.

The older children were upset by the incident and told the woman when she returned from the shop.

The police were alerted the following day and the baby was examined at Borders General Hospital. He was not found to have any permanent damage.

The infant had already been placed on the "at risk" register after his mother, a 20-year-old single parent, was accused of neglect.

Sentencing Edwards, of Mansfield Crescent in Hawick, judge Lord Hamilton said he accepted that he had been asked to babysit at short notice and that he had acted out of frustration because the boy was continually crying.

But, the judge added, he agreed with a background report which said Edwards was "a material and serious risk to the public".

He ordered that Edwards should be kept under strict supervision for a year after his release from jail.