Background: One-year-old Brandon Muir suffered injuries normally found in car-crash victims. Alison Campsie explores the events that led to his death.

Little Brandon Muir loved a cuddle.

In court, many people remembered how the boy, almost two, would hold out his arms and reach out to anyone within reach - family friends, doctors and health visitors.

Now, after the conviction of his mother's boyfriend for the toddler's killing, it would appear that Brandon was reaching out, if not just for comfort, then almost certainly for help.

Robert Cunningham, 23, was yesterday found guilty of the culpable homicide of 23-month-old Brandon, who died from stomach injuries of the type normally sustained by car crash victims on March 16 last year. It is not known if the child was stamped on, punched or kicked. We do know that the force was great enough to rip part of his stomach after it was jabbed on to his spine.

His injuries were such that he bled to death internally. On examination, it was found he had 40 injuries when he died, including old fractures on his ribs, cuts and bruises to his back and further bruising to the back of his head.

Brandon's life can only be described as short and tragic. Born to Heather Boyd, now 23, his mother became a heroin user and worked as a prostitute to raise money not only for her own habit, but also to furnish the addiction of Cunningham.

Cunningham had moved to Ms Boyd's flat just 18 days before the toddler died. His former girlfriend Nikita Bowman, who Cunningham left for Ms Boyd, told the High Court she had been beaten by the killer on a number of occasions during their "rocking, rolling rollercoaster of a relationship" and that she was often afraid of him. They often rowed about how Cunningham treated another child, although all charges relating to the second youngster were dropped in court.

It was Ms Bowman who reported Ms Boyd to social services for the way she smacked Brandon, taking off his nappy to hit him. This report led to renewed interest in Brandon's welfare.

Another insight into the troubled mother's domestic life was offered by neighbours, who complained about late-night parties at her flat. Ms Boyd was on a last warning for an Antisocial Behaviour Order following regular noisy parties. Recording equipment was put in a flat below hers to gather evidence.

That flat was occupied by John Knight, 60, who had been complaining to Dundee City Council for almost two years about the noise. He had also become concerned about Brandon's treatment.

One night he heard Ms Boyd shout at her son: "Eat that, you little b******. I am going to put you in a home if you don't eat it. I f****** hate you. I can't cope with you. F*** off to your room."

At 6.30am the next day, the neighbour also heard a child crying and Ms Boyd screamed: "shut the f*** up."

Social services had been involved with Ms Boyd but Brandon was not on the children at risk register. However, the situation at Brandon's home changed acutely when Cunningham moved in.

In the week before Brandon's death, there was no electricity supply in his home, in the Douglas area of Dundee. The child slept on a bare mattress and had few toys. A visitor at the flat told the court how he needed a bath. Another witness revealed how the child once drank liquid from a bottle that had been used as an ashtray. The court heard this had not concerned his mother, who simply slapped Brandon in response.

Detective Chief Inspector Willie Semple, of Tayside Police, the officer leading the case, said: "It was a classic, chaotic drug-abusing environment. Dundee has got a heroin scene and in Douglas there are heroin abusers and street-level dealers.

"It is not uncommon practice for a female with a drug habit herself to fund both her own heroin habit and that of her partner. When a child is brought into that it is a terrible, terrible shame."

Indeed, the night before Brandon died, his mother had gone into the city by bus to sell sex and buy the drug. When she left the flat, Brandon was already falling unwell - he had been fatally injured by Cunningham earlier in the day.

Cunningham denied he had assaulted Brandon that afternoon, claiming to have simply tapped him on the hand for trying to climb on to the window step. But the scale of the child's injuries were enough to claim his life.

Ms Boyd was not aware of her child's condition and all charges which linked her to Brandon's death were dropped last week.

By the time Ms Boyd had returned from buying drugs, Brandon was seriously unwell. John Orr, a consultant paediatrician, described how Brandon would slowly fall into shock as the injury reduced the blood supply circulating in his small body.

But Ms Boyd was oblivious to the suffering of Brandon, scooping him up to take him to a party a few doors down from her flat.

The party was busy with adults drinking and smoking cannabis. On arrival, Cunningham's sister noticed that the child was "pure white" and quieter than usual. By this point, Brandon was vomiting into his mouth.

A number of people suggested a doctor should be called. Ms Boyd said she would if he got any worse. Cunningham said he did not know the child's date of birth or the boy's surname. The couple had been together only a few weeks.

Brandon was tended to by Cunningham's sister, Ann, who was concerned for the boy. First, Brandon was placed on a bed and Ann tried to keep his mouth clear. He was then moved to an armchair to keep him upright as the party continued round about him. The dying two-year-old needed the toilet but had to make the visit himself, walking past adults who seemed to have little concern for his welfare.

Cunningham and Ms Boyd were seen to leave the flat on at least one occasion, although not together, as the party rumbled on. The court heard Cunningham had sex with an ex-girlfriend that night.

When Brandon finally left the party with Ms Boyd, witnesses said he had "perked up" a little and appeared to be better. At home, he fell asleep on the couch next to Cunningham. It was Ms Boyd's screams that woke up her partner. The toddler was not breathing.

The pair tried for five to 10 minutes to resuscitate Brandon and a policeman arrived at the scene following a 999 call. Constable David Gibson told the court that Brandon was not moving; his eyes were still and glazed but his body quite warm. The officer tried to bring the child back to life as an ambulance crew rushed towards the flat.

When they took over trying to save the child, Mr Gibson went into the street and burst into tears and Mr Semple was brought to the scene. He said: "A case like this is not a pleasant matter, nevertheless you have got to attempt to keep an open mind. As our inquiries continued, we ascertained that Brendan died from a blunt force injury. We investigated all the possibilities, both inside and outside the house, to establish if this could have been an accident."

There was some suggestion in court that the injury could have been caused when Brandon and another child were pushing and pulling a wooden toy. However, Mr Semple said: "To say this injury was caused by a toy is not enough. It would have had to have fallen on him from quite a height to cause this level of injury.

"We are able to show that on the early morning of Saturday March 15, Brandon Muir was a fit and healthy boy running about the flat. For about an hour he is left alone with Cunningham and when people come back to the house he has completely changed. He is lethargic, he can't move, he starts being sick not long after that."

Brandon's grandparents were not privy to the chaos in his life. Ms Boyd and Cunningham started to see each other when the young mother returned to live with her parents for a short time. Her father was an ex-army medic and the mother, Veronica, a former civil servant.

Mrs Boyd appeared to have little knowledge of her daughter's lifestyle. Heather was using drugs while at her parents' home in Monifieth, the court heard. She moved out of the parents' home and back to her flat in Dundee at the end of February. It has been suggested that it was Cunningham's arrival at the house which was the "tipping point" in Brandon's life.

While the mother and son relationship was, at times, fraught, home life at the flat in Balunie Crescent became more dangerous for the child as Cunningham came on the scene. Witnesses recalled him throwing Brandon "like a dolly".

To Mr Semple, the situation was not as black and white. "I think it would be too easy to say that Cunningham was the only one at fault here, that he was the bad lad," he said. "But there is always the question of parental responsibility."

A number of friends of both Ms Boyd and Cunningham gave evidence against the pair in court, including his sister, Ann. One witness said she was there to "speak on behalf of Brandon".

Mr Semple said: "These people certainly co-operated with us and gave us statements. A lot of stuff has come out that was not known to social work - it has all come out after his death. Of course, it would have been better had the information been given to social services while Brendan was alive."