Ushaw Moor murder-accused mum threatened 'major ass-kicking'

A mother accused of murdering her three-year-old son had threatened to give him a "major ass-kicking" before he was scalded, a court has heard.

Christina Robinson, 30, is accused of killing Dwelaniyah Robinson at their home near Durham after weeks of abuse involving beatings with a cane and burning with hot water.

Neighbours told Newcastle Crown Court they heard a child whimpering in the weeks before his November 2022 death.

Ms Robinson denies murder.

The court heard Ms Robinson, her husband Gabriel Adu-Appau, 33, and their young son seemed a "very happy" family when they moved to Ushaw Moor from Middlesex in 2020.

In 2022, while Mr Adu-Appau was working near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire with the RAF, Ms Robinson started messaging Chisom Innocent Onoja on a dating app, the court heard.

Mr Onoja, 27, said Ms Robinson claimed she was separated and in October, after several months of exchanging messages, he travelled from his home in Middlesbrough to spend the night at her home.

He said Dwelaniyah was an "accepting" child who was "quiet and reserved".

Mr Onoja visited a couple more times and said on each occasion Ms Robinson left Dwelaniyah at home alone to make the 20-minute drive to pick him up from Durham train station.

On 28 October, Ms Robinson sent Mr Onoja a voice message to complain about Dwelaniyah, accusing him of getting up in the night and emptying medical tablets all over the floor.

Ms Robinson said her son would often "do something major that requires a major ass-kicking", adding: "This is him, this is what he's like."

She said she had ordered Dwelaniyah to pick up the tablets "and then he is going to get his ass kicked".

Mr Onoja replied to tell her to be "gentle", to which she responded the three-year-old was "old enough to know better, so he'll pay".

Mr Onoja said he next saw Dwelaniyah on 30 October when he went to Ms Robinson's home, and found the child had suffered extreme burns to his legs which had been bandaged.

He said Dwelaniyah was in "obvious pain" and struggling to walk, with Ms Robinson telling him he had got in the shower and turned on the hot tap.

Mr Onoja said she told him she would take Dwelaniyah to hospital, but medical records show she never did.

Several days later, Ms Robinson messaged to say she was pregnant after using a sperm donor.

The court also heard from neighbours of Ms Robinson on Bracken Court.

Near-neighbour Christopher Bartley said Ms Robinson and her husband seemed a "very happy ordinary couple", who were "friendly" but "private".

Mr Bartley said Dwelaniyah was a "lovely" and "quiet" boy, who was always "impeccably dressed" and "well behaved".

He said Ms Robinson, who came from Tamworth in Staffordshire, seemed an "attentive" and "caring" mother who was "bubbly" and "happy".

Alan Hirst, who lived next door in the semi-detached house, said he never saw Dwelaniyah and, other than giving them a card and flowers as a welcome to the neighbourhood, did not see much of the family.

He said he did not usually hear much noise, but for the two weeks before Dwelaniyah's death on 5 November he heard a child's "whimpering" every night and often in the morning.

"It was fairly continual," Mr Hirst said, adding: "Not loud, but still there all night."

The court heard Dwelaniyah started to attend a nursery in Bear Park at the end of September 2022, for 15 hours a week.

Nursery manager Susan Carter said Ms Robinson wanted staff to work on improving his speech and socialising him with other children.

She described him as well dressed and he seemed like a "happy little boy".

Nursery worker Kathryn Oliver said Dwelaniyah always "seemed pleased" to see his mother at pick-up times, adding it was a "positive relationship" about which she had no concerns.

He last attended on 14 October, and in the following fortnight Ms Robinson would call the nursery to say she had car trouble and could not bring him in.

Ms Robinson claimed her son collapsed after choking on a cheese sandwich but prosecutors say he was killed by a fatal head injury.

The trial continues.

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