RIP Baby Star Hobson

Kali2

To my mind, the mother should get as long a sentence as her partner.

Yes, I'm appalled at the eight year sentence (four years if she "behaves"l.

The mother of this beautiful child stood by and allowed this to happen and joined in in the torture even if she didn't actually murder her baby.

In the news just now, Shortly before the sentencing, the Prime Minister told MPs that the Government is investigating Bradford Council’s child protection department following the tragic murder and will consider closing it if necessary.

"I would just like to say that I think the whole House will once again be filled with incredulity at the cruelty of people who can perpetrate a child killing like this, but also sadness and bewilderment that it could not have been prevented,” Mr Johnson said.

"We will appoint... a commissioner to assess the relevant council - Bradford's - capability and capacity to improve on their findings and they will report in January.

*

I for one don’t think Bradford’s child protection services are fit for purpose and I think it’s shocking and highly damning that the Director resigned 5 weeks before this case came to Court.

trisher

Forsythia

How long do you allow them to work towards necessary change and is it monitored? This little girl should have been removed swiftly in my opinion. Why weren’t the relatives listened to ?

Because none of the support Iam64 talks about remains. What is left are social workers trying to manage unmanageable workloads, nurseries and schools where staff has been cut to the minimum, GPs with huge lists and some areas where they won't work. Everything else has gone. None of what was aimed for after the death of Victoria Climbie was ever acheived and the aims and provision were abandoned.
Isn't it better to have some chance of changing things, even if there will always be a few who will slip through the net, rather than just cutting things and leaving everyone to struggle?

Thank you. Iam64 has explained well enough for me.

Calistemon

tickingbird

Callistemon. I doubt Brockhill will need to worry too much in prison. Judging from the video of her hitting that punchbag in the gym, she’d be more than capable of defending herself. I just hope they treat her with the contempt she deserves.

The thought crossed my mind that she might become Queen Bee and rule the roost in prison, tickingbird but I sincerely hope that other prisoners will be appalled by her crimes.

A child killer in a woman’s prison would NEVER become the Queen bee

Unusual friendships can be formed in prison.

Tustin is at HMP Peterborough, where cells can be 'personalised', TVs are provided along with a variety of healthy food options (HM Inspectorate).

Calistemon

Unusual friendships can be formed in prison.

Tustin is at HMP Peterborough, where cells can be 'personalised', TVs are provided along with a variety of healthy food options (HM Inspectorate).

Good God Almighty, you couldn’t make it up ?‍♀️

Shinamae

Calistemon

tickingbird

Callistemon. I doubt Brockhill will need to worry too much in prison. Judging from the video of her hitting that punchbag in the gym, she’d be more than capable of defending herself. I just hope they treat her with the contempt she deserves.

The thought crossed my mind that she might become Queen Bee and rule the roost in prison, tickingbird but I sincerely hope that other prisoners will be appalled by her crimes.

A child killer in a woman’s prison would NEVER become the Queen bee

Hindley was known as the Queen Bee in prison. She was a clever manipulator.

yes, one of the governors at holloway allowed her to be taken for walks on hampstead heath !
when a sunday newspaper found out and splashed it, the governor retired.

Another officer tried to help her escape.
She also had a relationship with Rose West.

We need dungeons for these child killers…

It makes you wonder what's going on that we don't know about.

Hindley out for pleasant walks, Pitchfork wandering around Bristol shopping, others given new identities etc.

We may complain about the press sometimes, but thank goodness for investigative journalists!

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2370866/Revealed-Myra-Hindleys-year-lesbian-affair-nun.html

these highly manipulative people are able to kind of mesmerise people; hindley did it repeatedly, look at how she used fooled lord longford.
i guess that is extreme narcissism; everything is about their wishes and advantage, nothing else matters.
the one sentenced today was smirking in court and making signs to ?supporters ? !

I am in no way defending the actions of these two females. I read today that mum has an IQ of 70, that is the lowest 2% of people. I wonder if GPs/ health visitors knew this girl was so challenged and whether more monitoring should have been in place. Clearly it should have been. Where were Holly's parents in all this? Do they have learning difficulties? Savannah hasn't been in school since age 1 0 and grew up in a travelling community.
We don't want a nanny state but must have a system which stops poor children like this being failed by their parents and society. Where was Star's dad and did he and his parents have access to Star?

To all intents and purposes, it seems that the mother received a lenient sentence. Before she was sentenced her barrister made her low IQ of 70 a mitigating factor. I was reading through a MN thread on this case, and it seems, the suggestion there from some posters was that with such a low IQ it is possible that her judgement would be impaired, whether or not that is true, I have no idea, not knowing what the implications of a low IQ are. Her barrister did point out that she was an awful mother, but she didn't actually kill Star, her partner did. As with Arthur's father she stood by and let it happen, almost with relish, so one can only ponder as to whether either of them had that innate sense of love and protectiveness that most parents have.

A while ago there was a case in Brighton where the 18 year old mother left her child, similar age to Star, in a supported hostel and went off for days on end partying leaving the poor little girl unattended and without fluids and food and that baby was another heart breaking statistic along with all the other poor little souls. This little girl could have been saved, it seems as the hostel where she was living was staffed and the cameras showed the mother coming and going. Reading about that made me honestly wonder how anyone could reach the age of 18 and not realise any dependent living creature, let alone a human baby, could not be left for days at a time without suffering painfully. She also received a fairly light sentence and again there were grandparents who were appalled and would have stepped in if only they had an idea what she was up to.

With both cases in mind, I read an article by the excellent Julie Bindel who is of the opinion that Star suffered her fate because Social Services put the perceived sensibilities of the fact that these women were lesbians, Julie Bindel is one herself, before the needs of the child and the partner had used that to good effect in deterring both of them being investigated further. I can't believe anyone in their right mind seeing that awful facial bruise wouldn't have removed Star to the safety of the extended family, even just to make sure. As with the mother in Brighton who went out partying, I wondered whether it was felt that it would be unacceptable in that case for someone to hold a master key to enter her accommodation because that would have been deemed to be an infringement of the mother's privacy, if they had, they would have found a little girl slowly dying a painful death who could have been saved.

Both mothers of course were very young when they had their children, and it seems in one case with learning difficulties and in both cases extreme immaturity, too immature to parent independently, or seemingly to have any feelings for their children other than dressing them up as an accessory to be used for photo opportunities. I'm sure many teenage mothers rise to the challenge and do an excellent job, but I wonder why with such question marks and concerns were these two were allowed to go it alone as parents without the much needed and vital support of the extended families.

Once again, as with Arthur, the murderer was named as a step parent, how infuriating that must be to all those step parents who provide love and ongoing support to their step children to be lumped along side those who are merely shacked up with the parent.

Absolutely no excuses

mumof4boys, I did read that Star's dad, had voiced his concerns to Social Services along with Star's extended family. Frankie Smith conceived when she wasn't much more than a child herself certainly not mentally. I believe she left the father to pursue the relationship with Savannah Brockhill and the father went off to university, so he was pretty young himself.

Excellent post, Terribull

The child's needs and safety should be of paramount importance. If that young mother was living in a supported hostel, where was the support? Certainly none for the baby she left to die.

I agree about step-parents, there are many wonderful step-parents. Many years ago a friend died suddenly leaving his wife with two much loved step-children whom she'd brought up from tiny but their inadequate biological mother then claimed them and they were taken from the step-mother.

TerriBull

mumof4boys, I did read that Star's dad, had voiced his concerns to Social Services along with Star's extended family. Frankie Smith conceived when she wasn't much more than a child herself certainly not mentally. I believe she left the father to pursue the relationship with Savannah Brockhill and the father went off to university, so he was pretty young himself.

So had the great-grandfather and his partner, as had babysitters.

Frankie's father was so distraught about the death of his little granddaughter that he committed suicide, telling his daughter that he 'would look after the baby'.

I am weeping as I type this.

I wept when I read about the baby in Brighton Calistemon, she could have been saved imo and of late about Arthur, Star and another little girl Ella left with a vile brute who murdered her, the worse thing is lessons will be learned, but not learnt enough to stop it happening.

Too agonising for the poor grandfather to live with so so sad.

Excellent posts TerriBull.

There have been many people speaking on TV and in articles in the papers and they are all of the same opinion as me. It’s the system that needs a total overhaul. It’s not individuals, although some have been less than exemplary at times.

However, I heard today that two of the sw visits to Star had been with police accompanying them and on one occasion she had been taken to hospital and her bruised face seen by a doctor. The doctor agreed with the parent’s explanation of how she acquired it - playing with a puppy or banging into a coffee table!

I just find it hard to accept that, along with all the injuries, 5 different referrals from 5 different people wasn’t enough for Star to be taken to the grandparents. Apparently she lived with the grandparents for 10 weeks, put on weight and stopped ‘injuring’ herself. Why don’t the dots get joined?

The horror of this will never go away.
Thank you TerriBull for your posts.
What has happened to the Non Accidental Injury check lists used at one time, maybe they are still there, I don't know but how all those referrals by concerned relatives did not result in the children concerned being removed and taken into hospital is beyond me.
I saw another case yesterday, a few years old that is going through the coroners court, little Ella-Rose. I haven't read all the details, I just couldn't bear to do so to be honest.
These pour little souls failed and failed again.

I cannot read any more about these cases it is far too upsetting

I think they should give a lethal injection for child killers and abusers, in the absence of this in our country they should rot in jail for the rest of their lives, hopefully not in any comfort.

I find your post objectionable to be honest Lesley