Mother accused of murdering her toddler 'wanted a large family with children in double figures', court told

A mother on trial for the murder of her toddler has told jurors she wanted a large family with children in "double figures".

Christina Robinson caned and scalded three-year-old Dwelaniyah Robinson and left him living in "excruciating pain" for weeks before she murdered him in November 2022, prosecutors claim.

Robinson, 30, of Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, County Durham, denies murder and child cruelty and is being tried by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court.

Speaking from the witness box, Robinson told jurors her marriage had been "dangling by a thread" and she had lost four pregnancies before the death of Dwelaniyah but had little support.

During questioning by her barrister Jamie Hill KC, Robinson, a former personal trainer and hairdresser, said her husband joined the RAF and eventually she was "done" with her marriage.

She said it was her husband who "took the lead" in discipline at home and would use verbal as well as physical chastisement.

Robinson told the jury: "I wasn't always there but on the occasions where I was I didn't do anything about it, unless it went too far."

Robinson said her husband once used a piece of wood on Dwelaniyah and added: "He hit him with it."

She said during a conversation with her husband afterwards she told him "it wasn't necessary" but added: "What i said didn't matter."

Robinson said she did not practice such punishment herself.

The mum, originally from Tamworth in the Midlands, told jurors she had met another man on the same dating site she originally met her husband and added: "I was a stay at home mum, at the time we moved up north it was during Covid so I do didn't know anybody.

"I just wanted a social life, I didn't have adult conversation at home so I sought it elsewhere."

Robinson said her online relationship with the other man was "strictly friendship", and her setting on the app indicated that.

She said she did not meet with the other man before her husband joined the RAF but eventually thought "why not".

Robinson said when her husband came home on leave from the RAF after the death of the Queen, it was the "best two weeks of the marriage" but after he left, on September 23 2022, their relationship "downward spiralled".

She said she decided to contact a sperm donor as she wanted a large family, with a "double figures" amount of children and added: "Me making that decision would have been after the relationship broke down."

Robinson told the court she was "very fertile" and tended to get pregnant easily and had agreed to be a surrogate for a friend, who ended up getting pregnant herself so the plan did not progress.

Jurors have heard Dwelaniyah had more than 70 sites of injuries, including bruises, abrasions and significant burns on his body when he died.

The court has heard some of the injuries could have been accidental and some could have been from resuscitation attempts.

His cause of death was "head injury and inflicted burns".

Robinson told the emergency services Dwelaniyah had made spluttering noises while eating a cheese bap and he then went "limp".

She said she had performed CPR on the boy until the paramedics arrived.

Robinson said the man she had formed friendship with over a dating app did end up making visits to her home and staying over.

She told the court she "wasn't aware" it was not a good idea to leave children home alone and had done so when she gave the man lifts to and from the train station in October 2022.

The same month, Robinson sent the sperm donor messages showing positive pregnancy tests with the words "definitely pregnant" and a "smiling emoji".

She said due to the loss of previous pregnancies she contacted the hospital and told jurors: "Because of previous miscarriages they warned me if I got pregnant again to call them immediately. They wanted to monitor the pregnancy."

Robinson was asked by her barrister Jamie Hill KC about the burn injuries found on Dwelaniyah's lower body.

She told the court the little boy had been scalded as she showered him in mid October 2022.

Robinson told the court Dwelaniyah was terrified of the shower head and would scream when he was in there and she had not realised he had been burned at the time.

The mum added it was not until a few days later that she realised the burns were becoming serious and added: "When I realised the damage and extent of the burns, so many days had passed, I just felt ashamed.

"I felt really, really bad for what I had done. i already felt ashamed of that because I didn't mean to do this but he was getting worse and worse. It looked really bad and I just felt really, really bad.

"When I first saw the burns I took it upon myself, ok I'm responsible for doing this by accident to him, it's my responsibility to take care of it."

The mum said as Dwelaniyah's burns got worse she went into "care mode" and took it upon herself to treat them.

She added: "I felt bad for what I had accidentally done to him."

The trial continues.