Man who attempted to murder defenceless baby after she cried in Edinburgh flat jailed

He also inflicted injury to the child's head and body by means unknown to the prosecutor.

A man who tried to murder a defenceless baby after she cried was jailed for six years today.

Lukasz Chomiczewski (26) hauled the infant from a baby walker and threatened to kill her before throttling her.

A judge told Chomiczewski: "This was a case which was aggravated by the vulnerability of the victim."

Man who tried to murder defenceless baby after she cried in Edinburgh flat jailed

Judge Norman McFadyen told him at the High Court in Edinburgh that fortunately the attack did not result in any lasting physical harm to the child.

The judge said that fixing an appropriate sentence in his case was not easy and that much of the appeal court guidance concerned offences where serious or catastrophic harm was inflicted on child victims.

He told Chomiczeski: "You have been found guilty of the attempted murder of a defenceless one-year-old baby."

"For no reason that is apparent other than the baby was crying you threatened to kill her, seized and compressed her neck, restricting her breathing and you inflicted injuries on her," said the judge.

He said that "with some hesitation" and only because of the fortunately limited extent of the injury to the baby he was prepared to limit Chomiczeski's jail sentence.

The judge also ordered that he should be kept under supervision for a further two year period.

He warned Chomiczewski that if he failed to comply with licence conditions during that time he could be returned to prison.

Chomiczewski had earlier denied attempting to murder the baby in an attack on August 6 last year at a flat in the Leith area of Edinburgh, but was found guilty of the offence after a trial.

He grabbed the tot by the arm and removed her from her baby walker before carrying her to another room in the property before threatening to kill her and squeezing her neck.

He also inflicted injury to the child's head and body by means unknown to the prosecutor.

The court heard that the little victim survived the life endangering attack without lasting damage.

After Chomiczewski was convicted of the murder bid jurors heard that he has a previous conviction for assaulting an adult woman which resulted in a 30-day prison sentence.

Defence solicitor advocate Jim Stephenson told the court that Chomiczewski continued to maintain his innocence over the attempted murder of the baby.

Mr Stephenson said: "He understands he has been convicted of a serious offence and will receive a custodial sentence."

He said Chomzewski, a prisoner in Edinburgh, had come to Scotland in 2017 and his immediate family were in Poland.

He added: "It is likely he will return to Poland on the completion of his sentence."

"He will find his time in custody difficult because of the language barrier and the fact that he has no one visiting him," said Mr Stephenson.