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24th Aug 2021

Edinburgh women appear to force feed baby with alcohol in online video

Laura Grainger

Neither woman received jail time.

Two women have returned to an Edinburgh court for sentencing on Monday after footage of them appearing to force-feed a bottle of alcohol to a 16-month-old child appeared online and caused distress to viewers.

The women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had previously pleaded guilty to an amended charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The pair, aged 26 and 24, were filmed placing the bottle into the infant’s mouth at a home in the area of Midlothian last year.

Footage of the incident showed the toddler’s head being forced back and “apparently consuming” the contents of the bottle.

The video, which appeared on Facebook in January of last year, was said to have caused “distress to others” who watched it, Edinburgh Evening News reports.

Speaking in court, Sheriff Alistair Noble said: “You have pled guilty to a charge much different from what you originally faced.

“You each pled guilty to a charge of threatening or abusive behaviour essentially involving the creation of a video that appeared to show a child, who was then about 16 months old drinking alcohol – though there was no suggestion it was alcohol.

“As a result of that video being created and shared online, a number of members of the public were upset at what they had seen and that is the nature of the charge you have pled guilty to.”

The 24-year-old, who is said to have administered the alcohol, was given a 12-month supervision order.

The 26-year-old was handed a 21-month supervision order.