Partick 1962: 10-year-old Girl Charged With Murder of Baby

Partick Cross

A 10 year old girl has been charged following the discovery of the dead body of baby Catherine Coyle of 9 Torness Street, Partick, Glasgow in a tenement last night.

Baby Catherine disappeared from her pram outside her home at approximately 7.15pm. Police with tracker dogs searched the area, combing gardens, backyards, closes and waste ground.

When first told of her daughter's disappearance by neighbors who has looked in the pram and found it empty, Mrs Coyle thought that they were joking. Realizing that they weren't, the distraught mother - who has been having a cup of tea in a neighbours' house - ran into the street crying for her baby.

It is alleged that on the 20th of September the 10 yr old girl (who lived in the same close as the Coyle's) assaulted the baby, aged seven weeks, tied a dishtowel around her neck and a piece of cloth around her head and repeatedly stabbed her on the body with a knife or similar instrument.

A Dr McNiven said that the girl had been confined to a hospital since the attack and during that time has been friendly. cheerful and quite happy. He said that whenever he spoke of the events she became serious and troubled and professed loss of memory. 'I consider that she must have been insane at the time of the offence' argued Dr McNiven.

The girl's academic record was poor and she showed tendencies toward aggressiveness and violence. The girl could give no explanation for acting as she did. Mr McNiven says that in his experience this case was unique - 'I have never examined a child of this age in regard to events of this kind.'

The next medical witness, Dr James Watson, said that in his opinion the girl was suffering from a mental illness and was unfit to plead, although he added that in a case of this nature it was difficult to distinguish between hysterical amnesia and pretended amnesia.

Appearing in court accompanied by her mother, the chubby faced, auburn-haired girl wore a blue and white woolen helmet, loose fitting pale green coat, woolen mitts, white ankle socks and black strapped shoes.