A lorry driver who left a three-week-old baby with permanent brain damage after shaking the infant violently has been jailed.

Damien Menzies attacked the child at Deans Community High School in Livingston, West Lothian, in October 2014.

The incident left the baby boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, unable to walk or talk.

Doctors will not know the full extent of the damage until his brain is fully developed.

Menzies, a former soldier who had denied harming the infant, was convicted of attempted murder following a trial in June 2016.

As he was jailed for seven and a half years at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday, his defence solicitor advocate Ian Bryce told the judge that Menzies maintained his innocence.

The lawyer also said the violence for which Menzies was convicted of was "out of character".

Lady Scott told Menzies: "You have been found guilty of the crime of attempted murder. The jury found that you acted in a reckless and wicked manner. You lost control and you you shook a child violently.

"The child's life is immeasurably reduced. However, the full extent of the child's injuries are not yet known and will not be known until the child's brain is fully developed.

"In these circumstances, the sentence of this court will be one of seven and a half years."

The trial at the High Court in Livingston heard how the baby had been well and feeding normally before the dance show at the school.

Menzies volunteered to help the child's mother during the performance, and told her he would change his nappy.

Just 15 minutes later, he returned with the child lying "blue" and "lifeless" in his arms.

The woman told the court of how the baby was so limp and floppy that he seemed to have no bones.

She described the boy, now aged around 20 months old, as "still like a newborn with most things".

Mr Bryce told the court on Tuesday: "He denies assaulting the infant but he does not deny the horrific effect that the injuries will have on the infant.

"The offence to which he has been convicted of is entirely out of character. There are no winners in any of this. This is an absolute tragedy."