Three-year-old boy 'murdered by his mother', court told

A three-year-old boy was forced into scalding water and lived with "excruciatingly" painful burns for weeks before being finally murdered by his "violent and cruel" mother, a court heard.

Christina Robinson regularly beat Dwelaniyah Robinson with a bamboo cane before his death because the "bible told her she should chastise her child", jurors have been told.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Dwelaniyah died after the emergency services were called to his home on November 5 2022 by Robinson, who said the toddler had stopped breathing while eating a cheese bap.

But prosecutors claim it was Robinson who inflicted a series of "violent and cruel" acts on her little boy before she eventually killed him.

Paramedics who attended the house at Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, County Durham, saw the boy's legs were heavily bandaged, which Robinson claimed was from some minor burns caused by him playing in the shower.

But jurors have heard the burn injuries to his leg's buttocks and genitals covered up to 20% of his body, should have had immediate surgical intervention and would have caused "excruciating" pain, which he lived with for weeks.

The lad also had distinctive bruising to his arms and body and a bamboo cane that contained his blood and body tissue was found at their home.

Dwelaniyah's "terminal collapse" and death was caused by an impact to his head which caused devastating injuries to his eyes and brain.

The court heard he had suffered similar injury two days earlier, which had started to heal.

Robinson, 28, denies murder and cruelty to a person under 16.

Prosecutor Richard Wright KC told the court Robinson told the emergency services her son had stopped breathing while he was eating and she had performed CPR for five minutes.

Mr Wright said: "When paramedics and police arrived they found the defendant in an upstairs bedroom with Dwelaniyah.

"Dwelaniyah was wearing only a nappy and those attending could see his legs were heavily bandaged. He had food around his mouth and about his head and he wasn't breathing."

The court heard Robinson was asked why her son's legs were bandaged and she said he had been "messing about" with the shower a few weeks earlier and suffered burns but she sought no medical treatment as they caused him "no problem" and she was able to treat him at home.

Mr Wright said attempts to save Dwelaniyah's life at hospital were futile and he was pronounced dead just over an hour after Robinson initially made the call to the emergency services.

He told the court: "His body revealed over a period of time before his death he had been the victim of a series of assaults and had sustained a number of non-accidental injuries.

"In other words, somebody had been deliberately hurting this little boy and had been doing so over a period of time.

"That person, say the prosecution, was his mother, the defendant Christina Robinson.

"There is clear evidence that Dwelaniyah had been beaten with a weapon in multiple areas of his body, causing line bruising., a distinctive type of bruise seen when someone has been struck with a cylindrical weapon.

"In this case, the little boy had been repeatedly beaten with a bamboo cane by his mother."

The court heard Robinson made admissions about hitting Dwelaniyah with a weapon but said she was "allowed to do so because the bible told her to chastise her child".

Mr Wright said the bandages on Dwelaniyah's legs were covering "extensive" burns to his legs, buttocks and genitals and added: "The burns were severe and covered between 15 and 20% of the total surface of his body.

"They would have caused excruciating pain both when inflicted and afterwards when not treated or cared for.

"These were very serious burn injuries. Surgery would have been required to treat them. They required immediate medical attention and would ahve left him scarred for life."

Mr Wright added: "For weeks after these burns were sustained she sought no help for him and instead watched as every day he struggled in pain with terrible burns bleeding through his bandages she had applied.

The court heard the pattern of the burns indicated Dwelaniyah had been "deliberately and forcibly immersed into scalding water" and they were not accidentally caused by playing with a shower.

Mr Wright said Dwelaniyah had nothing obstructing his airways, such as the cheese bap as his mum suggested to "cover up" what she had done and his cause of death had been a deliberately and forcefully inflicted, significant, head injury that caused damage to his brain and eyes.

The court heard the head injuries may have been caused by shaking and or impact with a surface.

He added: "There is evidence of an older and healing injury to his brain that had preceeded the fatal head injury by about two days."

Mr Wright said Robinson was sole carer for the little boy and added: "She beat him, she used a weapon on him. She deliberately immersed him in scalding water. She sought no treatment for his injuries.

"She allowed him to suffer in pain for several weeks and not once but twice she inflicted head injuries upon him by forcibly shaking him so hard that on the second occasion she damaged his brain and that in turn caused his heart to stop.

"The prosecution say that the death of Dwelaniyah was not an accident but the end point in a series of violent and cruel acts perpetrated against him by his mother Christina Robinson.

"She injured him, she neglected to threat the injuries she inflicted upon him and then she murdered him."

Sperm donor

In the weeks before she killed her three-year-old son, Christina Robinson, whose husband was in the RAF, had an "internet boyfriend" she met on a dating site, while also trying to get pregnant through an online sperm donor, jurors have heard. 

Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said: "At this time the defendant was making online contact with a sperm donor and trying to become pregnant again but for whatever reason wasn't trying to conceive naturally with her husband, who was away in the RAF. 

"At the time she was making contact with the sperm donor to try and become pregnant but also arranged for this other man to spend time with her after meeting on a dating site."

Before the death of Dwelaniyah, Robinson told the donor that she had conceived and was now pregnant by him. 

She also let the man from the dating site visit her home for a weekend. 

Dwelaniyah's father Gabriel Adu-Appau was married to Christina Robinson and joined the RAF in August 2022. 

Mr Adu-Appau did basic training near Aylesbury and spent "lengthy periods" of time away from the family home in County Durham. 

On September 23 Robinson took Dwelaniyah to a nursery for an induction. 

Staff said the pair seemed to have "normal mother and son relationship" but they last saw him there in mid October. 

Jurors heard a voice note Robinson sent to her the internet boyfriend saying Dwelaniyah "requires major ass kicking". 

She said he was "old enough to know better", he "will pay" for bad behaviour and "will get exactly what he deserves, no more, no less". 

The trial continues.