Mother charged with murdering son, three, subjected him to violence, jury told

A mother accused of murdering her three-year-old son subjected him to a “campaign of violence and cruelty”, jurors have been told.

Christina Robinson, 30, is on trial for murdering her son Dwelaniyah at the family home in Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, Durham, in November 2022.

She denies losing her temper and violently shaking the boy on the day he collapsed, never to recover, as well as a series of child cruelty offences said to have happened in the weeks before he died.

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, made his closing speech to the jury, calling it a “terrible case” and saying Dwelaniyah was burned, beaten and then had a fatal brain injury inflicted upon him.

He told Newcastle Crown Court: “He was subjected to a campaign of violence and cruelty by his mother for petty wrongs.”

Mr Wright said Robinson’s use of violence against the toddler escalated in the weeks leading up to his death.

“The violence was ramped up until he could stand it no more and he died,” the prosecution said.

Robinson denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

She also denies four child cruelty charges, namely that she deliberately burned him by immersing him in hot water; that she used slaps, or the back of her hand, hit him with a bamboo cane, spoons and other implements; that she failed to get him medical treatment and that she abandoned him by leaving him alone at home.

Robinson gave additional evidence from the witness box on Monday, having parted company with her legal team of barristers and a solicitor last week, and is now representing herself.

On the day he died, Robinson told the emergency services that her son collapsed while eating.

She told jurors about “complications Dwelaniyah had at birth”.

The defendant said: “He did get stuck on the way out, which I did need assistance for, and he was starved of oxygen for a while.

“His eye was bulged and blood-shot.

“I’m not saying that this could have led to what had happened but because no checks were done, we don’t know if there was any damage.”

She said her son bumped into things and banged his head, and that he had appointments with eye specialists.

“We cannot say either way what effect it could have had over time, whether he was higher risk of having something happen,” she said.

Mr Justice Garnham, setting out the legal directions to the jury, told them they must not allow themselves to be influenced by the “strong emotions” the case will cause.

He said: “You must not judge this case on the basis of feelings or sympathy or any emotional reaction you may have.”

Robinson, who is originally from Tamworth, Staffordshire, is a follower of the Black Hebrew Israelites religion and told the jury that prior to his death, she hit him with a bamboo garden cane as a “correction” for playing with his food.

The judge said Robinson will make her closing speech to the jury on Tuesday and adjourned the case until then.