BBC News
December 15, 2021
Star Hobson died of a heart attack on September 22, 2020 "
A woman has been convicted of killing her partner's 16-month-old daughter after months of physical abuse." "
Savannah Brooke Hill has been charged with causing serious injuries to a girl named Star Hobson, while the girl's mother has also been charged with causing the condition or allowing her death.
The little star died of a heart attack at a West Yorkshire hospital in September last year.
His mother, Frankie Smith, and Savannah Brooke Hill will be sentenced on Wednesday.
The Bradford court heard the Kegley resident's case for seven weeks. The hearing revealed that the girl had been subjected to severe torture for several weeks or months before her death, punched, kicked or severely beaten.
Prosecutor Alastair MacDonald said the girl had suffered severe injuries at various times. The injuries were reportedly caused by forcibly bending the girl's body, causing a fracture in the back of her head and in her right leg.
CCTV footage, mobile phone photos and video clips shown to the judges showed numerous bruises and bruises on the girl's body and face.
Footage from a South Yorkshire recycling plant shows Brooke Hill pushing the innocent girl three times in a car nine months before Starr's death.
The girl's great-grandfather David Fawcett says that Starr's death has broken up his family and he will never be able to recover from the trauma of losing her. I can't believe we won't see it again," he said.
The fact is that whatever happened to him is killing us," he said. Losing a child is a very painful feeling but the way we lost the star is very sad.
The girl's great-grandfather called Brooke Hill a "devil" outside Bradford's Crown Court, saying "she came from the bottom of hell and destroyed our family and the life of the innocent girl (star)."
He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture,and that his confession had been obtained through torture.The girl's great-grandfather also said that we had seen Smith with scars even before the star was tortured and so we knew something was wrong.
We did our best but she was alone," he said.
Frankie Smith (right) and Savannah Brooke Hill
Starr could have been saved if authorities had listened
Fawcett said the family was disappointed with Bradford's Department of Social Services and that the star's death could have been prevented if they had acted sooner.
Between January and September 2020, Bradford City Council was notified five times by family and friends, including Frankie's great-grandmother Anita Smith.
Smith's friend Holly Jones, who often looked after the star, said she was "really upset" and that "social services need to be stepped up."
I'm really worried because I think change is really needed. Because if they had taken my complaints seriously, the star would not have gone.
In a joint statement, Bradford Council told city protection agencies that it was "deeply saddened" that all warning signs were present.
As partners, we know we need to learn a lot from this case."
We have already taken steps to improve our work so that we can learn a lesson. But we need to fully understand why Starr missed out on better safety opportunities. "
"Social workers in our district help a lot of children and young people and work in situations that are often very difficult," said Susan Heinch Cliff, Bradford Council leader.
So it is important to learn from Star's horrific death so that we can better protect our children."
The baby's great-grandfather David Fawcett
The Bradford Council's review of local child protection practices related to Starr's death will be published in January 2022.
The Department of Education said the findings of the report would be included in a "national inquiry into the death of Arthur Lebenjo Hughes", launched by the Secretary of State earlier this month.
But Conservative MP Ruby Murray has demanded the resignation of Susan Hun Cliff and Christine, chief executive of the council in England, in the wake of the Star Hobson case.
West Yorkshire Police said in a statement that their investigation into Stars' death was "the most disturbing and heartbreaking investigation the team has ever seen."
Mark Swift, who led the inquiry, said: "I welcome the decision of the jury to resolve the Smith and Brock case. His actions against a helpless girl whose life he brutally shortened were absolutely brutal.
Frankie Smith was earlier acquitted of another murder charge by a Bradford court.
