A man broke a two-month-old baby's ribs by repeatedly throwing him into the air.

Liam Simpson, 22, was arrested after the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fell ill and was taken to hospital.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told doctors carried out X-rays on the baby and found he had suffered multiple rib fractures as well as injuries to his tibia and femur.

Medics concluded these could only have been caused by somebody throwing him upwards and then catching him.

On Tuesday, Simpson, of Edinburgh, pleaded guilty to a charge of culpably and recklessly throwing the baby in the air at various locations in Scotland between December 28, 2016, and March 17, 2017.

The Crown accepted Simpson's not guilty pleas to further charges alleging he had assaulted the same child to the danger of his life and repeatedly inflicted blunt force trauma to a four-week-old child at a house in Edinburgh.

Prosecution lawyer Kath Harper said: "Because of the number and age of the fractures, the baby would have been thrown and caught on more than one occasion.

"The rib fractures would have caused the child pain and the child would not have been able to breathe normally while the fractures were healing."

The court heard Simpson had no previous convictions and has a learning disability.

Defence advocate Bert Kerrigan QC said: "As a consequence of the Crown accepting a plea of guilty to a charge of culpable and reckless conduct, the Crown accepts that there was no criminal intent to assault the child.

"The accused accepts there was culpable and reckless conduct on his part."

Lord Woolman granted bail to Simpson and adjourned sentence until February.