A WOMAN has had her conviction for murdering her toddler son quashed by appeal judges.
Kimberley Hainey, 38, was yesterday told the conviction for murdering her son Declan in Paisley in 2010 had been overturned.
However, legal discussion will be heard today before judges reveal the reasons behind quashing the murder conviction.
The mummified body of Declan Hainey – who would have been celebrating his fifth birthday this week – was found in a squalid flat in the town's Bruce Road in 2010.
By the time doctors were able to examine the body, it was impossible to tell how he died.
His mother was found guilty of murdering Declan and jailed for life in January last year.
She was also convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice by keeping Declan's body hidden. No grounds of appeal had been put forward on that charge.
Ms Hainey went to the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh in January seeking to overturn the murder conviction for which she was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years.
Defence QC Edward Targowski argued crucial evidence heard by the jury was flawed.
The lawyer questioned the claims of expert witnesses called by the Crown who said that telltale marks on his bones were signs of malnutrition.
The murder charge alleged that Ms Hainey, a heroin addict, had abandoned her son for long periods of time without food or drink while she partied, drank and took drugs.
At a brief hearing yesterday, judge Lord Clarke said: "The court has come to the conclusion the conviction of the appellant of the murder of her baby son, Declan, must be quashed."
Lord Clarke went on to say that, during the appeal judges' consideration of the question, issues had arisen which had not been discussed during the hearing in January.
Because of that, the appeal court will hear from lawyers before judges reveal why they have overturned the conviction.
The jury at her trial at the High Court in Glasgow rejected Ms Hainey's claim she had woken one morning to find Declan dead in his cot and had not reported the tragedy because, as defence QC Edward Targowski explained: "She simply went into a downward spiral."
By the time Declan's decomposing body was found in March 2010 – just before his second birthday – he had not been seen alive for eight months.
A six-week trial at the end of 2011 heard how Ms Hainey had kept family, neighbours and social services at arm's length, not allowing them to get close to the little boy.
It was told that, after Declan's death, Ms Hainey sold his clothes and toys to buy heroin.
The jury was shown photographs of rubbish, dirty clothes and nappies littering the squalid flat.
The circumstances of Declan's death prompted a Significant Case Review, which was made public in February 2012.
It made 16 recommendations for improvements in social work and health care practice in both Renfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The report was commissioned by Tim Huntingford, independent chairman of the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee, jointly with Renfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
The review process began soon after Declan's body was discovered in March 2010 and completed that year, but could not be made public at the time because of the ongoing police probe and subsequent trial.
The Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee included representatives from the Children's Panel, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the Procurator-Fiscal's Office, the Renfrewshire Community Health Partnership, Renfrewshire Council, Scottish Children's Reporter Administration, police and the voluntary sector.
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