A mother who murdered her three-year-old son after a “campaign of violence” has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years.
Christina Robinson, 30, violently shook her son Dwelaniyah Robinson at the family home in Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, Durham, causing a fatal brain injury in November 2022.
During a three-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court, the prosecution said Robinson slapped and beat her son with a bamboo cane and hit him with spoons in the weeks leading up to his death.
She also neglected him by leaving him alone at home and deliberately scalded him as punishment, causing severe burns.
Christina Robinson. Pic: Durham Police/PA
Robinson, who is originally from Tamworth, Staffordshire, told the court her son’s burns occurred accidentally while she washed him in the shower and she did not seek medical attention for him because she was ashamed.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, previously said as much as 20% of Dwelaniyah’s body was covered in burns that would have caused excruciating pain for several weeks.
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Moment mother is arrested for murdering her son
In his closing speech, Mr Wright told the court the boy was “subjected to a campaign of violence and cruelty by his mother for petty wrongs”.
Robinson was found guilty of murder and four child cruelty offences, said to have taken place in the weeks leading up to Dwelaniyah’s death, when she was convicted on Thursday 21 March.
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