A THUG who carried out a murder bid on a baby tried to blame his puppy dog.

Paul Carlton violently shook the eight-week-old boy leaving him with life-changing brain injuries in August 2017.

The 25-year-old was supposedly looking after the child at Carlton's home in Nitshill, Glasgow.

Carlton claimed he had been briefly tidying his garden when he heard a cry from inside.

He told how he had left the boy in the flat in his baby swing alone with his two dogs.

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Carlton described one of the pets – a cross American Bulldog-Staffordshire terrier puppy called Sapphire – as “boisterous”.

He insisted the dog had once previously harmed another child.

Carlton said he could “speculate” Sapphire seriously injured the baby as he did not.

But, prosecutors said that was only possible if the dog had picked up the boy, shook him “vigorously” then placed him back in the swing.

Jurors convicted Carlton of attempted murder at the High Court in Glasgow.

The trial was told the child – now aged two – can not crawl, walk or talk.

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Heavily tattooed Carlton showed no emotion as he was remanded in custody pending sentencing next month.

Lord Burns deferred sentencing for reports.