Sean Lochrie: Man, 33, who suffocated four-year-old girl and broke her arms in cocaine-fuelled attack jailed

A man who suffocated a four-year-old girl and broke both of her arms in a cocaine-fuelled attack has been jailed.

Sean Lochrie, 33, was sentenced to more than six years in jail at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday (23 March) after admitting to what the judge branded a brutal assault on the youngster.

The 33-year-old, who appeared at the court by video link, had taken cocaine before attacking the girl, who suffered two broken arms and extensive bruising at a property in Paisley, Renfrewshire, last year.

Lochrie admitted assaulting the girl to her severe injury and to the danger of her life by seizing her, throwing her about, striking her on the head and body, or inflicting blunt force trauma to those areas by unknown means on 28 and 29 October 2022.

During the 12-minute hearing, Lord Arthurson said: “Although you have previously offended, nothing in your record bears comparison to the deplorable level of violence represented by this indictment perpetrated in whatever condition you were in against a helpless four-year-old-girl.”

The High Court in Glasgow was told “significant force” would have been needed to inflict such injuries on the child, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. The four-year-old “refused to speak about the events of the night she was injured”, prosecutor Lorraine Glancy KC said.

The court heard that Lochrie phoned police at around 3.15am on 29 October to report that he had just woken up and a female he did not know was lying on the floor. Officers arrived at the property 10 minutes later and said the defendant appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance.

The child was taken to hospital by ambulance, where doctors at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow found she had two broken arms, extensive bruising and her urine tested positive for cocaine, indicating she had ingested it at the property.

During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Iain McSporran KC, mitigating, described the incident as “extremely disturbing and distressing”, before adding that Lochrie had admitted to the crime at the earliest opportunity.

Mr McSporran added that Lochrie had taken cocaine on the evening of the attack and that the tragic death of the little girl proved that illicit drugs are “not only illegal, but plainly very dangerous”.

He said there was no suggestion the violence was motivated by “any kind of malice” and told the court Lochrie “must live in the knowledge of what he has done and that’s something he must live with for the rest of his life.”

Passing sentence, Lord Arthurson told Lochrie he would have received a 10-year sentence had he not admitted his crime. Due to his guilty plea, he handed him a prison term of six years and eight months, backdated to 31 October.