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A WOMAN offered to sell a child for £1 million - outside a bank in Ayr High Street.

Shameless Claire Boyle started the bidding for the wee boy at £2000 to the horror of passers-by, a court heard.

Last week the 28-year-old stood in the dock at the town’s sheriff court on a serious child neglect charge.

And Boyle, of Ayr, pleaded guilty to a charge that highlights how she tried to sell the child, who was 10 months old at the time.

It also highlights how she shook the wee boy, shouted at him, and abandoned him in a damp close in Ayr’s Princes Court on September 13 last year.

Depute fiscal Iain Gray, prosecuting said: “At approximately 10am on High Street, the accused was pushing a pram containing a child whilst in the presence of an adult male.

“She was under the influence of a substance at the time.

“Two witnesses were outside the Santander bank when the accused approached.

“The accused named prices from £2000 up to £1 million. She then stated that she would not sell the child.”

Mr Gray said the accused then bent over and shouted and swore in the baby’s face.

And she told the child: “You’re looking for attention, you’re no’ getting it.”

Mr Gray said the baby wasn’t strapped in properly, and was slipping down into a dirty cosy toes cover that was too big.

“She shook the child violently as well as the pram he was in,” said the prosecutor.

“Numerous people on the street stopped and looked with concern.”

Police were called, but when they got to the High Street, Boyle was gone, along with the baby and the man who was with them.

But officers got a tip-off about a child left in a close at flats in Ayr’s Princes Court.

“They saw the child lying in his pram unattended in a close that was described as damp and draughty,” said Mr Gray.

Defence lawyer Ian Gillies said: “She has had difficulties in her life. She was on a drug programme and was tested regularly.

“A fortnight or 10 days before this incident she met a man in Ayr and started some form of relationship with this person.

“She accepts she had taken a substance and accepts she behaved quite badly towards the child.”

Sheriff Desmond Leslie told her: “The offer to sell a child should not have appeared on the charge. But your behaviour towards a child was deplorable.

"This is a very serious indictment, as you abandoned the child. God knows what could have happened.”

He sentenced her to be kept under supervision for two years, during which time she must keep all relevant appointments.

And he put her on a six months’ curfew – first three months 8pm to 7am, second three months 10pm to 7am.