Murder-accused mother 'caned' son as 'bible allowed'
A mother accused of murdering her three-year-old son admits to hitting him with a bamboo cane but claims she was justified because the Bible instructed her to "chastise her child," a court heard.
Christina Robinson, 30, denies murdering Dwelaniyah at their family home in Bracken Court, Durham, in November 2022. She also denies a child cruelty offense.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, informed Newcastle Crown Court that the toddler died from a head injury after being violently shaken while solely under his mother's care.
When emergency services arrived at the property, they found the three-year-old heavily bandaged on his legs.
A post-mortem examination revealed tramline bruising on his body. Mr. Wright told jurors: "The little boy had been repeatedly beaten with a bamboo cane by his mother in this case.
"A cane stained with his blood and with his body tissue attached to it was recovered from the family home.
"The defendant admits to striking him with a weapon but claims justification from the Bible's instruction to chastise her child."
Robinson contacted emergency services by dialing 112, informing the call handler that her son wasn't breathing and his eyes had gone "all weird."
Upon paramedics' arrival, she alleged that he collapsed suddenly while eating a cheese bun.
She explained that Dwelaniyah was bandaged due to burning himself "while messing about in the shower" weeks earlier.
She neglected to take him to the hospital, asserting that the burns caused him no issues and were treatable at home, the court heard. Doctors attending to her son at home swiftly recommended hospital transfer as his heart had stopped.
Despite further efforts at the hospital, he could not be saved.
A post-mortem examination revealed a series of assaults and non-accidental injuries inflicted upon him, the jury was informed.
Mr. Wright stated: "In other words, someone had been deliberately harming this little boy over a period of time.
"That person was his mother, the defendant Christina Robinson."
Mr. Wright continued, indicating that the burns on his legs, buttocks, and genitals would have caused "excruciating pain" during and after their infliction, apparent to his mother.
He added: "This was a mother who could not possibly take her son to the hospital, knowing that questions would immediately arise regarding how he sustained those terrible injuries, not to mention those caused by her regular beatings."
The burn pattern suggested Dwelaniyah had been "deliberately and forcibly immersed in scalding water."
The final, fatal injury was not from choking on a cheese bun, the court heard.
Mr. Wright stated: "Dwelaniyah died not from eating a cheese bun but because, at the point of his terminal collapse, or shortly before, he had sustained a major head injury.
"It was not accidental but deliberately inflicted with significant force.
"There was evidence of damage to both his brain and eyes.
"These findings indicate a significant head injury caused by forceful shaking."
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