Prosecution Comments on Hainey Sentencing
CROWN OFFICE AND PROCURATOR FISCAL SERVICE
NEWS RELEASE
12 JANUARY 2012
PROSECUTION COMMENTS ON HAINEY SENTENCING
Today at the High Court in Glasgow Kimberley Hainey was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of her infant son Declan Hainey.
Declan was last seen alive aged 15 months. His body was discovered in March 2010, when he would have been 23 months old, in a flat in Paisley. His mother was found guilty and convicted of his murder on 15 December 2011 by a Jury at Glasgow High Court.
Kenny Donnelly, District Procurator Fiscal Paisley said:
“Declan Hainey was born a healthy child. However, he was later neglected and murdered by his mother, Kimberley Hainey. She then concealed Declan’s body and embarked upon a course of deception in which she led others to believe that he was still alive. This was a tragic and distressing case and today Kimberley Hainey has been rightly punished by the court for her actions.”
Notes to editors:
1. Following the conviction of Kimberley Hainey the Procurator Fiscal at Paisley will report the matter to the Crown Office Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU) and thereafter to Crown Counsel for consideration of a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiries (Scotland) Act 1976.
2. The Lord Advocate and Solicitor General are assisted in relation to High Court prosecution and similar work by Advocate Deputes who are known collectively as Crown Counsel.
3. The SFIU oversees and provides advice and support to local specialist deaths investigators in Procurator Fiscal offices around the country. In particular, the Unit deals with more complex non-criminal cases, including providing guidance in all cases where a Fatal Accident Inquiry is to be held.
4. A Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is a statutory public inquiry into the circumstances of a death. The Procurator Fiscal can apply to the Sheriff Court to hold a FAI once the investigation of the death is complete. The Procurator Fiscal can hold a FAI where there are issues of public safety or matters of general public concern arising from a death and there is a need to highlight hazardous or dangerous circumstances or systems that have caused or contributed to it.
5. The alternative to an FAI is a Public Inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 where events have caused, or are capable of causing, public concern over particular events that have occurred. A Public Inquiry does not fall within the responsibility of the Lord Advocate or Crown Office.
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