Murder-accused mother ‘calm’ as paramedics tried to save son, three, court told

A mother accused of murdering her three-year-old son appeared calm and “unpanicked” as paramedics worked to save his life after he stopped breathing, a court heard.

Christina Robinson, 30, admits hitting her son Dwelaniyah with a bamboo cane because the Bible told her she could chastise her child, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.

She denies child cruelty and murder, following his collapse at the family home in Ushaw Moor, Durham, in November 2022.

The prosecution alleges she inflicted a fatal head injury but claimed her son had choked on a cheese bun.

She had previously deliberately scalded his legs and bottom, causing excruciating pain, but failed to seek medical attention for him, the jury has heard.

Robinson claims she could use the cane as a follower of the teachings of the Bible, the court heard.

On the second day of her trial, PCSO Paul Gilroy, who responded to an emergency call at the home said he arrived at a similar time to paramedics.

He saw a little boy wearing a nappy with blood-stained bandages on his legs.

As paramedics worked on her son, Robinson watched on and did not say much, Mr Gilroy said.

When the ambulance crew asked her what had happened, she said she did not know, he recalled.

“She was really quite calm, seemingly unpanicked I would have said,” the police support officer said.

Jamie Hill KC, defending, asked: “She was for the most part standing silently, watching what the paramedics were doing with the little boy on the floor?”

Mr Gilroy replied: “Yeah, that’s correct.”

Dr Nicola Mullins worked with the Great North Air Ambulance Service and attended at the house 19 minutes after the first paramedics had arrived.

Although Dwelaniyah was taken to hospital, she agreed when Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said the little boy was essentially already dead while attempts to save him were made at the house.

Pc Emma Watson attended the house and recorded her interactions with Robinson using her body-worn camera.

The officer overheard Robinson speaking to her husband, Gabriel Adu-Appua, on the phone as paramedics worked on their son, and told him: “Are you saying this is my fault? I’m not accusing you or anything, this is not tit for tat.

“Don’t bring this type of attitude, I’m not in the mood for it.”

Robinson was told by a doctor that Dwelaniyah’s heart had likely stopped for 35-40 minutes and that the outcome was not good.

Even after he was rushed to hospital, Pc Watson said Robinson was not quick to get ready to follow in a separate ambulance.

She told the court: “I feel there was no sense of urgency in getting these things in place.”

The officer said Robinson cried silently when her son’s death was confirmed at the hospital.

Jurors have heard Dwelaniyah was in Robinson’s sole care as his father – the defendant’s husband – was away serving with the RAF.

She was pregnant at the time having used a sperm donor and was having an affair with a man she met online, the court has heard.

The trial continues.