Couple are convicted of neglect after boy, four, who fled house of horrors was so bruised medics thought he had LEUKAEMIA leading to police discover boy, two, in CAGE at their home

• Claire Boyle, 34, kept two-year-old boy in wooden cot with fixture across the top
• Another child, aged four, broke free from the flat through a crack in the window
• He was found on a street in Ayrshire with numerous bruises and taken to hospital
• Boyle and partner, Timothy Johnstone, found guilty of neglect on Wednesday

A four-year-old boy who fled a house was so bruised that medics thought he had leukemia before police found a second toddler trapped in a makeshift cage.

Claire Boyle, 34, kept the two-year-old boy in a wooden cot altered with a fixture across the top, claimed it was for the boy’s own safety.

The four-year-old who broke free from the flat through a six-inch crack in the window positioned four feet above the ground. 

Medics initially believed the older boy suffered from a blood clotting disorder or blood cancer due to his numerous bruises after he was discovered on a street in East Ayrshire, Scotland, in his pyjamas and taken to hospital in October 2018.

Boyle and her partner Timothy Johnstone, 57, were both found guilty of neglect on Wednesday at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.

Claire Boyle, 34, kept the two-year-old boy in a wooden cot (pictured above) altered with a fixture across the top and said it was for the toddler’s own safety

Police launched an investigation following a report from the member of the public who found the four-year-old boy in the street.

The two-year-old was discovered in the adjusted cot by cops who then attended the property, reports the Daily Record.

Dr Christine Findlay, an NHS consultant paediatrician, told the court there were ‘fingertip bruises’ on the older child and dried blood around his ears.

She added that the boy had many bruises, leading doctors to question whether he had a blood disorder such as hemophilia or leukemia.  

It was also heard that the four-year-old seemed very hungry when he was found, eating two sandwiches alongside minced beef and potato, three more sandwiches and an apple during his time at the hospital. 

Referring to the two-year-old, police constable Adam Peppard told the court that he was found with ‘upset’ with his ‘nappy full and hanging low’.

Boyle and her partner Timothy Johnstone (both pictured above, outside court), 57, were both found guilty of neglect on Wednesday at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court

He said: ‘[The toddler] was within the makeshift cot – the bottom of the cot had been removed and strapped to the top to stop the child getting out.’ 

The officer then described how Boyle began blaming the older child, saying it was his fault because he could open the window and go outside, leading her to place objects in front of the window and put the frame over the top of the cot.

A court heard in 2015 that Boyle tried to sell a child for £1million, starting bidding at £2000, outside a bank on Ayr High Street.

It was mentioned that she shouted at the child and shook him before leaving him unattended in a pram. 

Both Boyle and Johnstone were convicted by Sheriff Higgins of neglecting the older boy, and Boyle was also found guilty of neglecting the two-year-old.

Ed Sheeran, prosecuting, earlier withdrew a charge that the pair assaulted the four-year-old.

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