'Wicked' mother gets life in prison for the 'brutal' murder of her 19-day-old daughter

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Nicole Blaine, you've been found guilty of the murder of your 19-day old daughter Thea June Wilson on 14th 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.

[00:00:35]Despite what you have continued to say, what happened was no accident.

[00:00:40]It could not have been caused by a fall or being dropped once.

[00:00:45]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.

[00:01:01]Rather than love, protection, and nurture, what Thea received from you was catastrophic deadly violence.

[00:01:08]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 defenseless 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.

[00:01:34]You messaged Thea's grandmother on 2nd July of that year referring to the difficulties of going anywhere with three kids and said, "Will you just take Thea tomorrow for a couple of weeks? I can't cope Laura and I'm scared something happens to her.

[00:01:50]As much as I can't be away from her, I don't want anything happening to her.

[00:01:54]She's too little."

[00:01:57]Later the same day, you sent a further message saying that you were terrified something bad's going to happen to her.

[00:02:03]and again asked her grant 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 head's a mess. I'm scared she's going to die."

[00:02:16]This was just over a week before you murdered your child.

[00:02:20]Despite the fact that only a life sentence can be imposed for murder, I asked for a justice social work report to find out more about you with a view to assisting me in identifying the appropriate punishment part for that life sentence.

[00:02:33]I now have that report and a bail supervision progress report.

[00:02:37]You gave the author of the justice social work report a wholly self-serving account of what happened on 14th July 2023.

[00:02:44]Much of what you said is not consistent with the jury's verdict and to that extent I leave it out of account.

[00:02:51]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 2year-old daughter.

[00:03:05]This included insistence on focusing at trial on apparently aggressive behavior by that child to shift the focus from you.

[00:03:16]The jury saw through that feeble attempt to evade responsibility.

[00:03:21]Rather than facing up to the jury's verdict in the report, you've sought to adapt your explanation to better fit with the expert medical evidence than the patently observed version you tried to sell to the jury from the witness box.

[00:03:36]Your immediate and subsequently adapting accounts also point to the possibility of premeditation, fitting rather better with that than with you having been overwhelmed in the moment. I will come back to that report.

[00:03:51]I have three moving victim impact statements prepared by Thea's father, Ross Wilson, and his parents, Allan and Laura Wilson.

[00:04:01]I heard evidence from them as well at trial. They each give insights into the severe and continuing impact on their lives of the loss of a muchloved daughter and granddaughter.

[00:04:13]Ross Wilson says that lo losing the broke his heart and shattered his life.

[00:04:18]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.

[00:04:29]He suffers feelings of guilt wondering if wondering if he could have done more to prevent Thea's needless death.

[00:04:35]It appears that some people held him responsible 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 at that moment, sorry, 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. It's like there's an invisible barrier stopping me from doing anything. Like someone 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.

[00:05:22]something for reasons I do not know they attribute to you. Ross Wilson says of this, "It hurt in a way I didn't know was possible."

[00:05:32]Laura Wilson, Thea's grandmother, 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 grandchild.

[00:05:46]Laura speaks of the hopes and 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.

[00:06:00]Laura has suffered other bereiements, but says that the horrific loss of Thea is a pain she's never felt before. She ends her statement with the question in bold letters, why Alan Wilson will never forget the terrible scream he heard coming from Thea after you started your murderous attack on her and phoned him instead of an ambulance. He too describes the loss of their pride and joy and the child and teenager and woman Thea could have grown to be.

[00:06:31]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.

[00:06:40]And I understand that at least Thea's father is here today. It may be that other next of kin are here too. Nicole Blaine, you're 30 years old and at the time of the murder you were 27. You have a single previous conviction for assaulting a child. On the face of it, that is a worrying aggravation. But on the last occasion, the advocate deputilfully explained that it was a 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 in summary complaint and you were admonished after a period of presumably good behavior for over a year. I give it no weight.

[00:07:18]I mentioned this the bail supervision progress report which confirms that you adhere to the terms of that order.

[00:07:24]The Justice Social Work Report gives me information about you and your life. I note that you suffered adverse and traumatic childhood experiences, including exposure to to domestic violence, neglect, drugs, and issues arising from your mother's serious mental health problems.

[00:07:44]The report mentions evidence that such childhood experiences can impact on the ability to provide adequate parenting.

[00:07:51]There seems to have been significant social work involvement throughout your childhood and into adulthood. This included periods in care and the involvement of children's hearings.

[00:08:01]You suffered traumatic bereavement in 2017 on the death of your mother and further bereiement in 2023 on the death of your grandmother.

[00:08:11]Alcohol and drug use became features in your life following the death of your mother.

[00:08:16]You suffered further domestic violence in two adult relationships.

[00:08:20]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.

[00:08:39]I note what is said about the care of your of two of your other daughters and what was seen as their best interests.

[00:08:48]I do not take that into account, but it reduces what can be said on your behalf about you as a mother.

[00:08:57]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.

[00:09:10]Troublingly, the report tells me about about the birth of your fourth daughter in January of this year and what has followed from that.

[00:09:19]I note what is said about your lack of engagement with the authorities who had understandable concerns for her well-being. She is currently a looked after and accommodated child and subject to an interim compulsory supervision order whilst the grounds are yet to be established in court.

[00:09:37]I note that you have suffered significant poor mental health for many years having been diagnosed with certain conditions as a child and as an adult with emotionally unstable personality disorder and you've been prescribed antisycchotic medication which appears to help. You've also been admitted on several occasions including earlier this year to inpatient psychiatric care.

[00:10:03]I do not have any psychiatric report uh on those matters, but I take it into account and it is in the just the social work report. You're assessed as having a high level of risk and needs. I note that, but as Mr. Ross said, leave that out of account in identifying the punishment part. It is not relevant to identifying that period.

[00:10:23]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.

[00:10:32]The report says there are records of significant supports being offered to Miss Blaine at this time. But despite this, by her own admission, she failed to fully utilize the support offered in any meaningful way. Any failures appear not to have been in the support offered.

[00:10:49]They were in you.

[00:10:52]As you have failed to accept direct responsibility for the murder, 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.

[00:11:05]But speculation is all it is. The report says it may be that the index offense was committed out of a buildup of emotions and subsequent loss of control brought on by the emotional stress of looking after three children. And as the report said, perhaps having that responsibility on your own uh for the first time. It therefore appears that the offense may have been spontaneous, unplanned, and reactive to feelings of stress.

[00:11:33]That that is a generous interpretation of some of the facts. It may be that this explains what happened, but I emphasize that that is not or at least not yet what you say happened.

[00:11:46]The report says that you admit having avoided being honest about your negative experiences.

[00:11:51]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 well-being.

[00:12:02]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.

[00:12:13]The evidence did suggest that you were exhausted and struggling to cope with three young children at the time, but so do many people.

[00:12:20]You were in accommodation where support was on hand and offered daily or on request.

[00:12:30]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 and come to terms with 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.

[00:12:58]There was and can be no justification for what you did which involved in part at least prioritizing your own selfish needs as opposed to the care of your children.

[00:13:11]Understandably, Mr. Ross was unable to find very much to say on your behalf today in view of the jury's verdict, and he has said all that can be said. He highlighted the media and social media attention you have received, including some grossly irresponsible social media coverage during your trial, which had it come to the attention of the jury, may have had a prejuditial effect on those proceedings. There is no reason, however, to think that that happened.

[00:13:41]While at least some of that coverage, perhaps much of it has been deeply irresponsible and those involved in mentioning court cases on social media should understand that there may be consequences for them and for trials of those that they wish to see convicted.

[00:14:03]But it seems to me that the unthinkable nature of your crime is the main reason for the attention it has received.

[00:14:11]I do however recognize that your time in custody may well be more difficult as a result of that. So at least it's in part because of how serious and unthinkable what you did was. The sentence for murder is prescribed by law and is a life sentence and that is the sentence I will impose. Now I require however to specify a punishment part which is the period you must serve before you can be considered for parole. It leaves out of account questions of risk.

[00:14:40]Having regard to the extremely violent indeed brutal nature of this murder of a vulnerable and defenseless baby, I have decided that the appropriate punishment part is 19 years.

[00:14:54]That takes into account all relevant factors, including your own troubled background, mental health problems, but also the combined wickedness of not only murdering your 19-year-old baby in the presence of your 2-year-old daughter, but then also trying to blame your 2-year-old daughter for the death.

[00:15:15]You should understand, Nicole Blaine, 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.

[00:15:33]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 it is not a matter for me but for the parole board, much may depend on you coming to accept and admit come to terms with what you have done and the fatal consequences for Thea and perhaps also the related consequences for your three other children. The sentence will, as Mr. Ross requested, date from 29th April 2026. I've already ordered that your conviction be intimated to the Scottish ministers in terms of the protection of Vulnerable Group Scotland Act 2007. That is all.