Star Hobson: Who Is Frankie Smith? Frankie, 20, accepted child maltreatment but blames her partner, Savannah Brockhill, for the death of a 16-month-old girl.
A court heard that a 20-year-old woman was a “bad mother” who was abusive to her toddler daughter but did not murder her.
Star Hobson, sixteen months old, died on September 22, 2020, after being battered to death in the Keighley, West Yorkshire, flat she shared with her mother, Frankie Smith.
Smith admitted child cruelty over the course of his trial at Bradford Crown Court. However, she accuses Savannah Brockhill, a 28-year-old amateur boxer and security guard, of murdering Star.
The couple, who had been in a “toxic” relationship for 11 months before Star’s death, are both on trial for murder and causing or enabling her death.
They both deny the charges. But they accept that instead of calling an ambulance they went on the internet, Googling “shock in babies” and “how to bring a baby out of shock” 11 minutes before Smith’s phone texted 999.
The trial, which has been running for seven weeks, has heard that numerous friends and family members called social services to express concerns about Star in her short life. The first referral was made in January 2020.
Zafar Ali QC, representing Smith, said he was not going to pretend his client was a good mother. “Frankie Smith was a terrible mother. She was selfish and sometimes callous … and cruel to her own daughter,” he said in his closing speech on Tuesday.
“Her behaviour was more than immature and ignorant. Her behaviour was simply terrible. Frankie Smith’s priorities were all clearly wrong,” he continued.
But he told the jury that Smith had been telling the truth when she said she was in the toilet when Star suffered the catastrophic abdominal injuries that caused her death.
Who Is Frankie Smith? Star Hobson Mother
Frankie Smith is the mother of the toddler Star Hobson.
Frankie Smith, who is currently 20 years old, and Savannah Brockhill, who is 28, are the toddler’s mothers charged with murder and causing or enabling the death of a child.
Both of them dispute the allegations.
Star Hobson murder trial: Mother made ‘cruel’ videos of toddler https://t.co/HPlkaWhnu1
— BBC Radio Leeds (@BBCLeeds) November 22, 2021
The pair was charged with Star Hobson’s murder at Bradford Crown Court after she died on September 22, 2020, despite doctors’ best efforts summoned to a property in Keighley.
When medics discovered Star’s corpse, her efforts at breathing were limited, and her skin was a waxy grey.
According to jurors, she vomited enormous volumes of brown fluid in an ambulance before being brought to the hospital, and she died soon after.
Star Hobson Mother Frankie Smith Trial Update
Frankie Smith, and Savannah Brockhill, both from Keighley, West Yorkshire, are accused of murdering her daughter.
Smith’s mobile phone footage of her yelling at the youngster was exhibited before a jury at Bradford Crown Court. Brockhill was the recipient of the footage; she informed the court.
I’m at a vigil for Star Hobson, the 16 month old who died from cardiac arrest in Sept 2020.
Star’s mother Frankie Smith & her mother’s partner Savannah Brockhill are on trial at Bradford Crown Court. They deny murder & causing or allowing the death of a child@BBCLookNorth pic.twitter.com/orFoARdFPP
— Sabbiyah Pervez (@SabbiyahPervez) November 13, 2021
When asked why she did it, her barrister Zafar Ali QC claimed Brockhill told her she had to wake her up since it wasn’t Star’s nap time. Brockhill was the recipient of the footage; she informed the court according to the court.
Where Is Frankie Smith Now?
Frankie Smith is undergoing trials now for allegedly killing her daughter, Star.
Frankie Smith, 20, has guilty of child maltreatment but claims her girlfriend, Savannah Brockhill, is responsible for the death of a 16-month-old daughter.
The couple, who had been in a toxic relationship for 11 months before Star died, are both on trial for murder and causing or enabling her death.
Star Hobson murder trial: Mother made ‘cruel’ videos of toddler – BBC News https://t.co/HgrYdo1JxF poor little chap – tragic @JeanRochford
— Freedom from Abuse (@freedom_abuse) November 23, 2021
Star was brought to see a hospital doctor when a police officer who came to the residence noticed bruises on her fart.
According to Smith, the injuries were caused by the youngster tripping and hitting a coffee table while learning to walk; the prosecution told jurors earlier in the trial that the youngster died of utterly catastrophic injuries due to the couple’s continuous attacks.
The trial is still ongoing.