Father who threw 'devil' baby from bridge sent to Carstairs

be detained in the State Hospital at Carstairs yesterday after a jury

found him not guilty of murder because he was insane at the time.

The High Court in Glasgow heard how Moy came to believe he was the

anti-Christ and that his son was Satan.

Moy was sure the Devil had put a birthmark on the boy's head and that

he and the infant were to blame for the Gulf war.

He also feared they would destroy the world by infecting mankind with

a virus.

Later he told police he had to save the world by killing both his son

and himself. Moy was also obsessed by the number six, traditionally

linked to the Devil.

The court heard that Moy had worked as a lab technician until he

contracted ME eight years ago and suffered depression.

But there was no sign of the tragedy to follow when he visited his

wife Eileen and son, born last September 26, in hospital.

She returned home with the baby, but Moy stayed with his parents

because he needed care for his depression.

But tragedy struck when Moy and his wife took Eoghan for his first

outing on a sunny day last October.

As they stood at Overtoun Bridge near a Dumbarton beauty spot, Moy

suddenly dropped the baby to the wooded banks of a burn 42ft below then

tried to throw himself over, but was dragged back by his screaming wife.

Bystanders scrambled down the steep banks, where Eoghan lay fatally

injured. He died in hospital next day.

Moy was taken to nearby Overtoun House, where he grabbed a kitchen

knife and tried to slash his wrists before he was arrested.

Mr Kevin Drummond QC, defending, told the jury: ''The tragedy of what

happened here is beyond all comprehension.'' The jury was told that it

was agreed by both the prosecution and the Crown that Moy, of Alexander

Street, Dumbarton, had dropped the baby over the bridge.

But the 11 women and four men on the jury had to decide whether they

accepted the evidence of four psychiatrists that Moy was insane at the

time of the killing. They returned a unanimous verdict.

The judge, Lord Mayfield, ordered Moy to be detained in the State

Hospital.He will remain in the hospital until doctors think he is fit to

leave, but the final decision will rest with the Scottish Secretary.

Mr Craig Scott, prosecuting, told the jury that it was not in dispute

that Moy had dropped his baby over the bridge.

What they had to decide was if they accepted the evidence of four

psychiatrists who all agreed that Moy was insane at the time and was

suffering from an acute alienation of reason, and he suggested they

would have no difficulty in reaching the same decision.

Mr Drummond said: ''Nobody is in any doubt that the accused is not a

criminal, but is a very seriously ill and sick young man.'' He said Moy

and his family were due sympathy.

He told the jury: ''This case either represents evil of such depth

that it is beyond comprehension, or alternatively it represents an

illness which is also beyond the comprehension of ordinary human

beings.'' He said that Moy was an intelligent, decent man from a good

family background, and the tragedy had deeply affected the families on

both sides.

Moy sat staring ahead with a nurse from the State Hospital sitting

nearby during the two-day hearing.