'Toxic mix' led to boy's murder - prosecutors

A "toxic mix" of a toddler wanting attention and a stepfather being tired and ill led to the boy being murdered, a court has heard.

Prosecutors told Teesside Crown Court Christopher Stockton, 38, had no time or patience for Charlie Roberts when he shook the 22-month-old boy to death at their home in Darlington in January.

Mr Stockton denies murder and cruelty with his lawyers telling jurors he was being cast unfairly as a "wicked step-parent" while Charlie's mother Paula Roberts was being overlooked as a suspect.

Roberts, 41, has admitted child neglect but was not charged with murder.

Charlie was in the sole care of Mr Stockton when he collapsed at his home on Frosterley Drive at about 09:00 on 12 January, jurors have heard.

The toddler had been in good health when his mother left home that morning, 18 minutes before Mr Stockton called 999 to say Charlie was "floppy" and not breathing.

Mr Stockton, who had been in a relationship with Roberts since early 2023, claimed Charlie had been choking on a biscuit but scans at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary showed he had suffered catastrophic internal bleeding in his brain.

Medical experts said it was an "inflicted", non-accidental injury caused by severe shaking or his head being struck and was akin to injuries seen in a fall from height or a "terrible" car crash, prosecutor Nicholas Lumley KC said.

In his closing speech, Mr Lumley said Charlie's injuries were so severe he would have collapsed within moments of them being inflicted, adding several pathologists agreed they "could not have happened until after Paula Roberts left" that morning.

The court has heard Mr Stockton, who moved into Charlie's home seven days before the boy was fatally injured, had pneumonia and had been awake playing video games and watching TV until 05:30 on 12 January.

Mr Lumley said his illness and tiredness became a "toxic mix" when he was left in charge of a young boy who was "doing nothing wrong" but wanting to play and not be ignored by Mr Stockton.

He said the only person who could say what happened was Mr Stockton, but the defendant was a "practised and accomplished liar" who had "little patience" for the child and would punish him "for the slightest thing".

Mr Lumley said Roberts wanted Mr Stockton to be known as "daddy" to Charlie and would have "done anything" for her boyfriend by "overlooked anything to keep him in her life".

In his closing speech, Jamie Hill KC for Mr Stockton, said after a child's death attention often turned to the mythical "wicked step-parent" figure as depicted in nursery tales.

Mr Hill said history was "littered" with such stories but that was "not a good basis" for assuming someone's guilt, and suspicion over Charlie's death and injuries could also fall on Roberts.

He said medical science was imprecise and people could fall ill in different ways, so it was plausible doctors were wrong about the gap in time between the injuries being inflicted and Charlie's collapse.

Mr Hill said the child had suffered a number of injuries in his life for which Mr Stockton could "not have been responsible", including bruises for which Roberts gave accounts that doctors said "could not be right".

He said there were "red flags calling into question the actions of Paula Roberts" and her actions in the days before Charlie's death were "strange and disturbing", but prosecutors were "stereotyping the nonbiological parent".

Mr Hill said everything Mr Stockton had done in the relationship had been "turned" against him and there were "plenty of examples" of him trying to bond with Charlie.

He said the prosecution had made much of Mr Stockton putting Charlie in a "naughty corner", adding: "Is the use of a naughty corner to be considered child abuse now?"

Mr Hill said Mr Stockton had been "consistent" in his account of what happened and was "fully engaged" in answering police questions on multiple occasions.

He said the "supposed violent cold-hearted killer" was a man of good character who worked hard and whose ex-wife had no concerns about him being a child abuser.

The prosecutor said an air ambulance doctor initially thought the call out was a hoax due to Mr Stockton's calm manner on the 999 call, but Mr Hill said Mr Stockton was known to be "emotionally flat" and his demeanour was not proof of anything.

The trial continues.

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