Man who held toddler in front of train in murder bid jailed

The Herald Scotland

16-07-2025

Danquah took the boy after he was told that his relationship with his former partner was over for good.
Danquah later held the boy on his shoulders as the train struck them both which put them in hospital.
The toddler luckily escaped with minor grazes, which he has since recovered from.
Danquah was found guilty today at the High Court in Glasgow of attempted murder.
The first offender, of the city's Lambhill, was also convicted of culpable and reckless conduct.
Danquah had lodged a special defence that he was unable to appreciate his actions due to a mental illness.
Judge Tony Kelly said: "This was described in court as a murder suicide. Your defence was that you were unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of your actions - the jury believe you had appreciated them.
"This is grave - to cause harm to a child is beyond comprehension. In light of what you have been convicted of, you will be remanded in custody as your bail is no longer appropriate."
The court heard that Danquah and ex-partner Justina Paulaskatie, 26, split up in February 2023 but continued to live together.
On the day of the incident the pair spoke about her new relationship with their mutual colleague from an Amazon warehouse in Lanarkshire.
Miss Paulaskatie told an "unhappy" Danquah during the conversation that they would not be getting back together.
Danquah then left the house they still resided in together and went to his parents' home where the child was staying.
Danquah meantime wrote an apparent suicide note which was posted to his Facebook page.
It read: 'I should have tried harder, I never knew what I had until I lost it, too little too late I guess, I can't continue to live in this darkness, I guess this is goodbye.'
Around 4.30pm that day, Danquah met and spoke with his future brother-in-law Victor Oso, 29, north of Glasgow city centre while he initially held the boy on his shoulders.
The Virgin Money employee told the court in his evidence that Danquah asked him to "look after my sister."
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Danquah was later spotted by witnesses trying to climb the fence of a footbridge which overlooks the M8 motorway in the city's Anderston.
Jurors were also told that Danquah tried to pull himself and the boy over the fence.
Danquah was later spoken to by a police officer and allowed to leave the area.
Danquah then made his east to Garrowhill train station where the incident occurred around 7.20pm.
The boy was found to have a rucksack on his back with a handwritten note inside of it.
The toddler and Danquah were taken to hospital where the boy was found to have suffered surface wounds to his forehead, head, back, face and nose.
Danquah meantime sustained fractures to his lower spine and his jaw. Miss Paulaskatie meantime was worried about Danquah after she read the Facebook post.
She and a friend went looking for him in their local area of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, before they reported the Facebook post to the police.
Miss Paulaskatie was later informed about the train incident and visited the boy in hospital.
Prosecutor Michael Macintosh asked Miss Paulaskatie what condition the boy was in.
She replied: 'He was lying and he couldn't move his body. They didn't know if there was anything wrong with him - he wasn't awake but he kind of was as his eyes were half open.
'The nurse said he could hear but he was in shock - he had a lot of bruises.'
Miss Paulaskatie stated that the boy has since recovered from his injuries.
Danquah was initially held under observation at the Rowanbank mental health clinic but was later discharged.
He was ordered by the court not to contact Miss Paulaskatie as part of his bail conditions.
The court was shown a lengthy Merry Christmas message allegedly sent to Miss Paulaskatie in which Danquah apologised for what happened.
Gary Allan KC, defending, asked the witness if Danquah looked after the boy well while in his care.
She replied: 'Yes.' Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month.