SENTENCING STATEMENTS

Upon sentencing, Lord Scott made the following remarks:

“You have been found guilty of the murder of your 19 day old daughter, Thea June Wilson, on 14 July 2023 by repeatedly shaking her and repeatedly inflicting blunt force trauma on her.

"Due to brutal violence at the hand of you, her own mother, baby Thea suffered three separate fractures to three different areas of her skull, extensive bleeding in her eyes, injury to, and in the areas surrounding, her brain and fractures of two of her ribs.

"Despite what you have continued to say, what happened was no accident. It could not have been caused by a fall or being dropped once. Despite your persistent attempts to suggest it, what was done to your child was done not by her older sister who was nearly three years old, but by you, the main person responsible for the care of baby Thea. Rather than love, protection and nurture, what Thea received from you was catastrophic, deadly violence.

"On the evidence, the jury decided that it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that, in an act that was either wickedly intentional or wickedly reckless, you murdered a tiny, defenceless baby. With a hint of premeditation, you did this having previously said things suggesting that you were worried about what might happen to Thea, mentioning also your other daughter being rough. You messaged Thea’s grandmother on 2 July, referring to the difficulties of going anywhere with three kids, and said:

'will yous just take Thea tomorrow for a couple of weeks I can’t cope Laura and I’m scared something happens to her as much as I can’t be away from her I don’t want anything happening to her she’s too little.'

"Later the same day, you sent a further message saying that you were 'terrified something bad's gonna happen to her' and again asked her gran to take her for a period of time. You said:

'I’m not well enough to do this and be responsible for a baby so little my heads a mess I’m scared she’s going to die.'

"This was just over a week before you murdered your child.

"Despite the fact that only a life sentence can be imposed for murder, I asked for a JSWR to find out more about you with a view to assisting me in identifying the appropriate punishment part for that life sentence. I now have that report and a bail supervision progress report.

"You gave the author of the JSWR a wholly self-serving account of what happened on 14 July 2023. Much of what you said is not consistent with the jury’s verdict and, to that extent, I leave it out of account.

"Instead of accepting and admitting what you did, and immediately calling for an ambulance, you started almost immediately to try to deflect blame to your then two year old daughter. This included insistence on focussing at trial on apparently aggressive behaviour by that child to shift the focus from you. The jury saw through that feeble attempt to evade responsibility. Rather than facing up to the jury’s verdict, in the JSWR you have sought to adapt your explanation to better fit with the expert medical evidence than the patently absurd version you tried to sell the jury from the witness box. Your immediate and subsequently adapting accounts also point to the possibility of premeditation, fitting rather better with that than to you having being overwhelmed in the moment. I will come back to that report.

"There are three moving Victim Impact Statements, prepared by Thea’s father, Ross Wilson, and his parents, Alan and Laura Wilson. They each give insights into the severe and continuing impact on their lives of the loss of a much loved daughter and grand-daughter.

"Ross Wilson says that losing Thea broke his heart and shattered his life. He describes being a dad as the most important thing in his life. He describes the role he played in the lives of your other daughters, something else he has lost because of you. He suffers feelings of guilt, wondering if he could have done more to prevent Thea’s needless death. It appears that some people held him responsible him for Thea’s death. He is receiving therapy and psychological support. He says,

'I only got 45 minutes with Thea before she died, 45 minutes to say goodbye to the tiny baby girl I loved more than anything. Then I was taken away, and that moment has haunted me ever since. The emptiness I felt walking away from her is something I can't put into words. Since then, I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't even take part in any form of physical exercise, its like there's an invisible barrier stopping me from doing anything like something pushes me back inside. The pain is constant. It doesn't ease. It doesn't fade.'

"All three of them describe their pain at being unable to attend Thea’s funeral, something they attribute to you. Ross Wilson says of this, 'It hurt in a way I didn't know was possible.'

"Laura Wilson describes the traumatic effect of Thea’s murder on the whole family who had been overjoyed only 19 days earlier when she was born. Thea was a much wanted and loved grand-child. She speaks of the hopes and dreams lost and the many milestones Thea will never reach. It is clear that Thea’s short life greatly affected the entire family and that her untimely death has damaged them forever.

"Laura has suffered other bereavements but says that the horrific loss of Thea is a pain she’s never felt before. She ends her statement with the question, 'WHY?'

"Alan Wilson will never forget the terrible scream he heard coming from Thea after you started your murderous attack on her. He too describes the loss of their pride and joy, and the child/teenager/woman Thea could have grown to be.

"Baby Thea was clearly a much loved child within that family. It is obvious that no sentence I can impose will be enough to help them with their traumatic loss.

"Nicole Blain, you are 30 years old and, at the time of the murder, were 27.  You have a single previous conviction for assaulting a child. On the face of it that is a worrying aggravation but the Advocate Depute helpfully explained on the last occasion that it was assault on a 14 year old child when you yourself were a child, being only 16 at the time of conviction. The matter was dealt with on summary complaint and you were admonished after a period of presumably good behaviour for over a year. I give it no weight.

"I have seen a bail supervision progress report which confirms that you adhered to the terms of that order.

"The JSWR gives me information about you and your life. I note that you suffered adverse and traumatic childhood experiences, including exposure to domestic violence, neglect, drugs and issues arising from your mother’s serious mental health problems. The report mentions evidence that such childhood experiences can impact on the ability to provide adequate parenting. There seems to have been significant social work involvement throughout your childhood and into adulthood. This included periods in care and the involvement of childrens’ hearings. You suffered traumatic bereavement in 2017 on the death of your mother and further bereavement in 2023 on the death of your grandmother. Alcohol and drug use became features in your life following the death of your mother. You suffered further domestic violence in two adult relationships. Concerns about domestic abuse in the second relationship which resulted in the birth of your first two daughters saw them placed on the Child Protection Register for several months. Following the fire mentioned in evidence at Thea’s father’s flat, the children were put back on that Register just a few months before Thea was born. I note what is said about the care of two of your other daughters and what was seen as their best interests. I do not take that into account but it significantly reduces what can be said on your behalf about you as a mother. Even leaving aside for one moment the fact that you murdered your own baby, none of what I have read matches your description of yourself as 'a good mother'.

"I note that you have suffered significant poor mental health for many years, having been diagnosed as an adult with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder and prescribed anti-psychotic medication for that which appears to help. You have also been admitted on several occasions, including earlier this year, to in-patient psychiatric care.

"You are assessed as having a high level of risk and needs. I note that but leave it out of account in identifying the punishment part.

"I note what is said in the report about some of the help and support available to you in 2023 as the mother of two and then three young children, 'There are records of significant supports being offered to Ms Blain at this time but despite this, by her own admission, she failed to fully utilise the support offered in any meaningful way.' Any failures were not in the support offered, they were in you.

"As you have failed to accept direct responsibility, the author of the report has had to speculate as to what happened when you murdered your baby, including by reference to your own childhood and mental health problems:

'It may be that the index offence was committed out of a build up of emotions and subsequent loss of control brought on by the emotional stress of looking after three children. It therefore appears that the offence may have been spontaneous, unplanned and reactive to feelings of stress.'

"It may be that this explains what happened but I emphasise that that is not – or at least not yet - what you say happened.

"The report says that you admit having 'avoided being honest about your [her] negative experiences'. You have claimed that this was to ensure you kept the children in your care, but the author suggests that you placed your desire to keep the children in your care over their safety and wellbeing. On the basis of the jury’s verdict, what you maintain even now about what happened to baby Thea is another example of you avoiding being honest for selfish reasons. The evidence did suggest that you were exhausted and struggling to cope with three young children at the time but so do many people. You were in accommodation where support was on hand. In any event, I cannot proceed to sentence simply on the basis of some reconstructed version of events which formed and forms no part of your position about what happened. It may be that you have struggled to accept the enormity and finality of what you did – perhaps that will come in time – but as you stand here before the court, you have shown not a shred of remorse.

"There was and can be no justification for what you did which involved you prioritising your own selfish needs as opposed to the care of your children. 

"Understandably, Mr Ross was simply unable to find very much to say on your behalf today in view of the jury’s verdict. He highlighted the media and social media attention you have received, including grossly irresponsible social media coverage during your trial. While at least some of that has been irresponsible, it seems to me that the unthinkable nature of your crime is the main reason for that attention. I do however, recognise that your time in custody may well be more difficult as a result of that.

"The sentence for murder is prescribed by law and is a life sentence.  I require, however, to specify a punishment part which is the period you must serve before you can be considered for parole. Having regard to the extremely violent nature of this murder of a vulnerable and defenceless baby, I have decided that the appropriate punishment part is 19 years. That takes into account all relevant factors, including your own troubled background but also the combined wickedness of not only murdering your 19 day old baby in the presence of your two year old daughter but then also trying to blame the two year old for the death.

"You should understand that this is not a sentence of 19 years imprisonment. It is a life sentence. 19 years represents the minimum time you will have to serve before you can even be considered for parole. Whether you are released then or ever will be a matter for the Parole Board to determine after that 19 year period has elapsed, based on the risk you are assessed to pose at that time. While that is not a matter for me but for the Parole Board, much may depend on you coming to accept and admit what you have done and the fatal consequences for Thea and the related consequences for your other children.

"The sentence will date from 29 April 2026.

"I have already ordered that your conviction be intimated to the Scottish Ministers in terms of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007.”

28 May 2026