A MAN has pleaded guilty to leaving a baby with ‘catastrophic’ head injuries.

The baby boy, who cannot be named, was left with ‘irreparable brain damage’ and suffered a fractured skull after being caught in a fight between Glen Philip Reid and Kimberley Haigh.

Doctors say the child is likely to be profoundly handicapped for life.

Yesterday, Reid, 29, of Revidge Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to willfully mistreating the child, causing unnecessary harm or suffering, and injury to health.

He also pleaded guilty to assaulting Miss Haigh on June 30, 2009.

Reid and Miss Haigh were said by the prosecution to have had a ‘volatile relationship’ which Reid had decided to end on the morning of June 30, 2009.

Timothy Brennand said: “The defendant was at the end of his tether with all manner of issues in his personal life.

“Arguments between the couple moved from verbal to physical aggression and Kimberley Haigh was having none of it.

“The defendant decided to teach her a lesson she wasn’t going to forget and pushed her very hard in the face back onto the sofa.”

It was during the fight that the baby fell to the ground.

Preston Crown Court heard that the child began to whimper and Miss Haigh became worried, asking for an ambulance to be called, but Reid was ‘absorbed in argument’ and continued punching Miss Haigh.

The further movements backwards and forward are thought to have caused the baby increased brain damage, the court heard.

Defending, Douglas Stewart said the assault was not intentional.

Reid had previously committed a drunken disorderly offence and arson in 1996.

Reid was bailed until January 10 for sentencing.

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