Dwelaniyah Robinson: Mother guilty of murdering three-year-old son
Dwelaniyah died from a fatal brain injury after his mother violently shook him at their family home in 2022. Christina Robinson denied murder and child cruelty offences.
Thursday 21 March 2024 19:00, UK
A mother has been found guilty of murdering her three-year-old son after a "campaign of violence".
Christina Robinson, 30, violently shook her son Dwelaniyah Robinson at the family home in Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, Durham, causing a fatal brain injury in November 2022.
She was also found guilty of four child cruelty offences said to have taken place in the weeks leading up to Dwelaniyah's death.
During a three-week trial at Newcastle Crown Court, the prosecution claimed Robinson slapped and beat her son with a bamboo cane and hit him with spoons.
She also neglected him by leaving him alone at home and deliberately scalded the little boy as punishment, causing severe burns.
Robinson did accept she used a bamboo cane on her son as a form of "correction" for playing with his food, believing it was the right thing to do after hearing a religious lesson online.
"My reasons behind it was simply that I believed I was doing the right thing, it is in the Bible," said Robinson, a follower of the Black Hebrew Israelites religion - which follows the teachings of the Old and New Testament and the Apocrypha.
The mother, who is originally from Tamworth, Staffordshire, told the court her son's burns occurred accidentally while she washed him in the shower and she did not seek medical attention for him because she was ashamed.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, previously said as much as 20% of Dwelaniyah's body was covered in burns and would have caused excruciating pain for several weeks.
Robinson denied the claim that her son was an "inconvenience", pointing out she always wanted a large family with "double figure" children.
She said she had looked into using a sperm donor to get pregnant after the breakdown of her marriage to Gabriel Adu-Appau, who was serving on an RAF base near Aylesbury when Dwelaniyah was fatally injured.
Robinson later questioned expert evidence about how her son died, claiming there was uncertainty about what happened to him, and pointed out he was "clumsy" and would bump into things.
Jurors were shown paramedics' body-cam footage as they tried to save the boy at the house.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
It had been more than 20 minutes before Robinson dialled 999, first speaking to her husband on the phone and then using Google to look up how to resuscitate a child.
When the emergency services arrived, Robinson appeared calm as she explained her version of events to a police officer while medics worked desperately on Dwelaniyah.
Dwelaniyah, whose heart had stopped beating, was taken to hospital but could not be saved.
Representing herself in court after parting with her legal team, Robinson told the jury during her closing speech on 19 March: "Please do not find me guilty for something I have not done."
Speaking on the same day, Mr Wright said the boy was subjected to a campaign of violence and cruelty by his mother for "petty wrongs".
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Outside court, detective chief inspector Simon Turner said Robinson "lied from the outset" and he hoped her conviction would "provide closure" to those who "truly cared" about Dwelaniyah.
Mr Justice Garnham, the judge, will sentence Robinson on 24 May, giving her time to seek legal representation. He thanked the jury, some of whom were visibly upset.