The 1-year-old boy who was found next to the body of his dead mother was seen for the first time with his father.
34-year-old Mercy Baguma, originally from Uganda, was found lifeless with starving 16-month-old Adriel after her partner, 30-year-old Eric Nnanna, went to the apartment but only heard the infant crying.
Mr. Nnanna immediately contacted police who found the child next to Baguma’s body.
Ms. Baguma was unable to work because of her asylum situation but she wanted to join Police Scotland and had been volunteering in a charity shop.
“When they opened the door they said I shouldn’t come into the flat. They said they saw Mercy’s body lying in her hallway and Adriel was in his cot,” Mr. Nnanna recalled.
“He was found there by them. Adriel… when my mind takes me back there I cry. I don’t know how to express that.
“Because they obviously imagine that she died on the Tuesday night, so Adriel didn’t have food or water or anything from that Tuesday night until that Saturday morning when he was found.
“There was no strength. When I held him I was feeling his spine, his bones and then his nappy, the babygrow that he was wearing was all stained with blood.”
Mr. Nnanna continued: “It was something that I just can’t imagine. He couldn’t even stand. Adriel when he sees me he is always shouting ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy’ and I would go and carry him and lift him up.
“But he couldn’t even recognise me. It is a miracle he survived. I don’t know where he got the strength from, to cry, because he had been there for so many days.”
Mr. Nnana was getting £35 a week from the government, and his family was supported by their church and charities. Money was tight for the family because of their immigration status.
“For those few days when he was in that flat he would have felt abandoned, that there was no one there for him,” he expressed. “So he needs time to be reassured that his daddy is there and promises him he will never go.
“Right now he doesn’t let me go out of his sight, he follows me everywhere, he needs that attention. He needs reassurance and lots and lots of love.
“My hope for him is for him to grow up knowing that his dad will always be there for him, that his dad will love him and care for him and when he grows older I will tell him how loving his mum was.”
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