A 16-month-old girl died from ‘utterly catastrophic’ injures after repeatedly being assaulted over weeks and months by her mum, a court has heard.
Frankie Smith went on trial today along with her partner Savannah Brockhill, accused of murdering Star Hobson.
After Star’s death in September 2020, the pair told police her injuries could have been caused by a toddler, Bradford Crown Court was told.
But prosecutors called this suggestion ‘absurd’ and say so much force was applied that it is ‘quite impossible for doctors to envisage’ a child was behind the injuries.
The jury was shown video footage of Star being shouted at in her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC said the clip showed ‘there was also a degree of cruelty and psychological harm’ inflicted on Star in the run-up to her death.
The court heard how paramedics were called to the flat and discovered ‘the body of an apparently lifeless, pale, baby wearing only a disposable nappy’.
She was taken to Airedale General Hospital, but her injuries were so severe ‘there was never any real chance of saving her life’, Mr MacDonald said.
Jurors heard how internet searches at the flat for ‘shock in babies’ and ‘how to bring a baby out of shock’ revealed a 15 minute gap between the incident and the 999 call.
Mr MacDonald said Smith and Brockhill were the only adults in the flat at the time, although two other young children were present.
He said: ‘It is inconceivable that any carer would wait 15 minutes to call for professional help when their 16 month-old child was showing symptoms of a medical catastrophe.
‘Any innocent carer would have been on the phone within seconds, not 15 minutes.’
Mr Macdonald said investigations of the girl’s body showed she had ‘suffered a number of significant injuries at different times’.
Jurors heard how Star died after suffering ‘severe and forceful blow or blows, either in the form of punching, stamping or kicking to the abdomen’.
Mr MacDonald said there had also been two fractures to Star’s right leg ’caused by forceful twisting’ which had been refractured as they healed.
He also described a fracture to the back of the skull and bruising, ‘much of which is considered to be non-accidental in origin’.
The prosecutor said social services were aware of Star’s case but were kept away from her, along with many members of her family, in the last period of her life.
Jurors heard how they will hear from a number of relatives and friends of Smith, who will describe concerns they had over bruises they spotted.
They were shown video footage of the girl being shouted at and forced to stand and face a wall.
Mr MacDonald added: ‘You would not be human if you did not, in those circumstances, feel strong and powerful emotions.’
The court heard how Smith was 19 when Star was born in May 2019 and her relationship with the father ended when the infant was about six-months old.
Shortly after this, she began a relationship with Brockhill, who was working on door security at pubs she frequented, jurors were told.
They heard how one witness recalled an incident when the toddler accidently bit her mum as she helped feed her in a car.
Brockhill asked Smith what she was going to do about it ‘whereupon Frankie Smith bit Star’s finger which caused Star to cry’, Mr MacDonald said.
The jury was played a series of CCTV clips which prosecutors said showed Brockhill deliver 21 blows with ‘considerable force’ to Star in a car over a period of nearly three hours.
Jurors heard the footage came from a camera at a recycling plant in Doncaster, where Brockhill was working as a security guard, and was filmed about eight days before Star’s death.
The clip shows the girl falling out of the vehicle at one being and being grabbed by the throat by Brockhill.
Another video shown to the jury, described by the prosecutor as ‘disturbing and bizarre’, showed Star falling off a plastic chair and hitting the floor.
The mobile phone footage had been slowed down with music added, plus a caption which said ‘in this moment she realises she has messed up’.
Another clip, filmed on both defendants’ phones, showed Star being so tired out that she fell forward and slept in a bowl of food.
Mr MacDonald told the jury the youngster was ‘clearly exhausted but treated completely without love’.
Brockhill, 28, and Smith, 20, from Keighley, both deny murder and also causing or allowing Star’s death.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/3jnRnyN
0 Comments