Jail sentence for Star Hobson's mother is increased as judge condemns 'cruelty'

Frankie Smith, 20, was acquitted of murder at Bradford Crown Court in December last year but jailed for eight years for causing or allowing the death of her 16-month-old daughter.

The toddler was killed by Smith’s former partner Savannah Brockhill, 28, during a savage attack at their home in Keighley in September 2020, after she suffered months of physical abuse and neglect.

Smith’s sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General’s Office and during a hearing today Lady Justice Sharpe found it was “unduly lenient” and should be increased to 12 years.

After reviewing the facts of the case and the sentencing remarks of the judge who jailed Smith last year, she said there were four factors which made the mother more culpable.

She said there was evidence of “prolonged and multiple incidents of serious cruelty” and Smith, who appeared via video link from HMP New Hall, had degraded her daughter, showed “a deliberate disregard for her welfare” and failed to take any reasonable steps to protect her.

She referred to several examples of cruelty, including one in September 2020 when Smith dragged her daughter through Bradford city centre by her reins, even though the toddler “could not walk and was in severe distress” because her leg had been fractured during a recent assault.

The judge, who was sitting alongside Mr Justice Sweeney and Mr Justice Jeremy Baker, also highlighted a number of aggravating factors in the case.

She said Smith failed to seek medical help for her daughter in the months leading up to her death, she lied to social workers and the police, and her daughter was particularly vulnerable as she was only 16 months old.

At the original trial last year, the judge accepted three mitigating factors - Smith’s low IQ and immaturity, the fact that she had no previous convictions and her remorse.

However, Lady Justice Sharpe disregarded those arguments and said it had been established that Smith’s low IQ “did not excuse her behaviour or conduct" and she had remained in a relationship with Brockhill “for her own selfish purposes and gratification”.

The judge also said that Smith did not have previous convictions, but she could have been prosecuted for a series of child cruelty offences in the months leading up to her daughter’s murder, and her remorse should not have been taken into account.

“Where Ms Smith had treated Star with such frank cruelty, neglect and callous indifference, the judge was wrong to identify this as a mitigating feature and then give it the weight that she did,” she said.

“In our judgment no less a sentence than 12 years would meet the justice of this case."

Before the ruling, Zafar Ali, who represented Smith, said it was “simply incorrect" to say she was not remorseful and she "broke down several occasions during the crown's case in the trial".

He added: “This case was permeated by domestic violence, and she was physically abused by Brockhill on several occasions. Prosecution witness after prosecution witness gave evidence (to say) whenever they saw her, she was covered in bruises.”

During the trial last year, prosecutors said the injuries that caused Star’s death involved extensive damage to her abdominal cavity “caused by a severe and forceful blow or blows, either in the form of punching, stamping or kicking to the abdomen”.

Jurors also heard there were other injuries on her body which meant that “in the course of her short life, Star had suffered a number of significant injuries at different times”.

Social workers were asked to intervene five times, by friends and family who had become concerned about bruising, but Smith and Brockhill said the marks were caused by accidents and the reports had been made maliciously.

Attorney General Suella Braverman announced in January that she would be referring Smith’s sentence to the Court of Appeal, describing the case as “tragic and extremely upsetting” and saying she believes Smith’s eight-year term was “unduly lenient”.

But she did not recommend any increase to the sentence Brockhill, who was handed a life term with a minimum of 25 years in prison after being convicted of murder.