SOCIAL workers believed a mother who was found guilty of neglecting and murdering her baby boy, only to later have the conviction quashed, was "over-concerned" for him, an inquiry into his death has heard.
Kimberley Hainey was assessed as being "devoted" to Declan, who was found dead in his cot in March 2010.
His mummified body had lain dead in the litter-filled cot for so long it was covered in dead insects that had been living off his decaying flesh.
The 39-year-old was jailed for life for neglecting and murdering him but released last April on appeal.
Yesterday at a Fatal Accident Inquiry, a senior social worker told Sheriff Ruth Anderson that he and his colleagues, and Ms Hainey, thought she was a good mother.
But referring to a report he had compiled, Hugh Madden said: "She seemed over-concerned for Declan's health and well-being. This is seen as a weakness."
The witness said the report showed that having Declan had changed Ms Hainey's life.
He said: "She cares well and is concerned for Declan and is a good and loving mother."
When asked about heroin addict Ms Hainey's use of drugs and alcohol, Madden said: "She said she only took methadone - no other substances."
But he said in his report, compiled in late 2008, that Ms Hainey had been known to be violent in the past.
The inquiry continues at Paisley Sheriff Court.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article