A vile thug who suffocated a four-year-old girl during a vicious cocaine-fuelled attack has been jailed. Sean Lochrie, 33, was sentenced to six years and eight months at the High Court in Edinburgh after leaving the child with two broken arms and extensive bruising.
The shocking incident took place at a property in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in October last year. Lochrie appeared by video link for the 12 minute hearing on Thursday in front ofLord Robert Weir.
The judge told him: “Although you have previously offended, nothing in your record bears comparison to the deplorable level of violence represented by this indictment perpetrated in whatever condition you were in against a helpless four-year-old-girl.”
In February, Lochrie admitted assaulting the girl to her severe injury and to the danger of her life by seizing her, throwing her about, striking her on the head and body or inflicting blunt force trauma to those areas by unknown means on October 28 and 29.
The High Court in Glasgow was told “significant force” would have been needed to inflict such injuries on the child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. Prosecutor Lorraine Glancy KC told the court the youngster “refuses to speak about the events of the night she was injured”.
The court heard Lochrie phoned police at around 3.15am on October 29 to report that he had just woken up and a female he did not know was lying on the floor. Officers were sent to investigate, arriving 10 minutes later, and said Lochrie appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance.
The child was taken to hospital by ambulance, where doctors at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow found she had two broken arms and extensive bruising. Her urine tested positive for cocaine, indicating she had ingested it at the property.
During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Iain McSporran KC, mitigating, gave a narrative of what he described as an “extremely disturbing and distressing” incident. He told Lord Weir that Lochrie had admitted to the crime at the earliest opportunity, and said his client had taken cocaine on the evening of the attack.
Mr McSporran said it proved that “illicit drugs are not only illegal but plainly very dangerous”. He said there was no suggestion the violence was motivated by “any kind of malice”, and told the court: “He must live in the knowledge of what he has done and that’s something he must live with for the rest of his life.”
Passing sentence, Lord Weir told Lochrie he would have received a 10-year sentence had he not admitted his crime. Due to his guilty plea, he handed Lochrie a prison term of six years and eight months, backdated to October 31
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