Murder-accused mother 'caned' son as 'bible allowed'

Dwelaniyah Robinson, three, suffered months of beatings and burns, the court heard

A woman accused of murdering her three-year-old son admitted she hit him with a bamboo cane to "chastise him as the bible allowed", a court has heard.

Christina Robinson, 30, of Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, has denied murdering Dwelaniyah Robinson in November 2022.

On the first day of her trial, Newcastle Crown Court heard that her son suffered months of beatings and burns before he died in hospital on 5 November 2022.

Ms Robinson has also denied child cruelty.

The jury heard how Ms Robinson called an ambulance to her home on the day of her son's death, saying he was not breathing.

Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said she told the emergency operator her son had suddenly “become limp and collapsed” after eating a cheese bap.

He said paramedics noticed Dwelaniyah’s legs were covered in bandages when they examined him.

His mother explained the bandages by claiming her son had burned himself “messing about in the shower” weeks earlier.

He died in hospital later that afternoon.

The trial at Newcastle Crown Court is expected to last four weeks

'Excruciating pain'

Opening the case for the prosecution on Tuesday, Mr Wright said Dwelaniyah “had no known concerning medical history” and had been in his mother’s sole care.

Mr Wright said his body revealed that over a period of time before his death he had been the “victim of a series of assaults and had sustained a number of non-accidental injuries".

"In other words, somebody had been deliberately hurting this little boy and had been doing so over a period of time," Mr Wright said.

"That person was his mother, the defendant Christina Robinson."

Mr Wright said the defendant admitted she hit her son with a bamboo cane, but said she was allowed to do so because “the bible tells her that she should chastise her child”.

The court also heard that between 15 and 20% of the surface area of Dwelaniyah’s body had been burned and he would have been in "excruciating pain”.

The trial continues.