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Bouncer and security guard Savannah Brockhill, 28, was jailed for life at Bradford Crown Court in December 2021 for murdering Star Hobson the daughter of her partner Frankie Smith at her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire in September 2020.
Star's mother Frankie Smith, 20, was sentenced to eight years for causing or allowing the youngster's death.
The tragic tale of the short life of Star Hobson began only 16 short months, before her murder.
Born in May 2019 Frankie, her Mother came from a large family and at only 17 herself, the young mother had her family around her for love and support as she coped with new Motherhood.
Star and her Mother were living with Smith's grandparents after the birth of Star because Smith was unable to cope on her own, she had and extremely low IQ which in fact places her at the bottom two per cent of the population for intelligence, and it was clear that she was unable to look after her Child. Smith was described as lazy and neglectful but despite this, pictures on social media of Star in this early part of her life shows a little princess, dressed in pink with huge blue eyes and creamy skin. Smith had a support network around her and this showed.
Star's father Jordan Hobson was only young himself and when Star was six months old her parents split up this was November 2019. Jordan moved away to Sunderland in the North east of England to attend University and following this separation it is reported that her Mother Frankie began to let her hair down and go out more, leaving the baby with Babysitters. Not unusual for a teenager or recently separated mother.
A month after her split with Jordan near Christmas 2019 Frankie Smith was at a pub when she met Savannah Brockhill where Savannah Brockhill worked on door security, as a Bouncer, Brockhill was 8 years older than Smith and the two women began an on-off, volatile relationship peppered with arguments and instances of domestic violence.
David Fawcett, Frankie Smith's grandfather, stated, to media following his great granddaughter and her partner's trial that Smith's family noticed a change in her attitude towards Star after she met Brockhill.
he was quoted as saying that Brockhill was "dominating and controlling" and "got into Frankie's head" and they believed that Smith was fearful of her partner.
not long after the couple began their relationship in the January of 2020 the first report was made to Social Services about Star
Hollie Jones aged 18, a friend of Smith contacted Bradford City Council and lodged an anonymous tip-off with over her worries about Star's mother Frankie Smith and partner Savannah Brockhill. she did not give her name at the time for fear of reprisals
Ms Jones, who looked after a six-month-old Star while Smith went out drinking, made her referral in January 2020 when she became concerned for the little girl who had bruises She raised concerns about how much she was being asked to look after Star, as well as domestic violence between Smith and Brockhill.
she recounted an incident where Star had accidentally bitten her finger when she was feeding her and that Smith's response was to bite the child back until she cried. Not a normal adult response to admonish a baby.
Ms Jones, was present on 26th January 2020 - the day social workers attended to check on Star.
Hollie was surprised as they called an hour before they arrived to warn Smith they were attending.
This gave what Hollie describes as an hour for Smith to clean Star up and to tidy the property and to cover her bruises she also told press following the trial that "Frankie made me hold Star so that the social worker couldn't really see much of what she was like," she said. she then went on to add "It's like ringing up a criminal an hour before and saying 'I'm coming to get you'. It just doesn't really make sense" she said.
"I think more things need to be put in place... because parents that are abusing their children know how to cover it up."
By February of 2020 looking after Star was getting too much for young Smith so
Star went to live with Smith's grandparents David and Anita for a while on her own whilst her Mother claimed he had at that time split with Brockhill and that the breakdown of the relationship whilst caring for Star was too much and she could not cope.
David says he and Anita, his partner of 27 years, picked up Star and thought she looked thin, sad and depressed.
"I've never seen a depressed baby before. She was looking at the floor and Anita said: 'Oh, look at her, poor little Star. She's never gonna be the same again'," he says.
But David says staying with her great-grandparents brought about an almost instant change in Star: "Within about two, three days she just perked up and she was absolutely brilliant. Magic."
the violence against Star may have ceased whilst she was wit h David and Anita but Brockhill still inflicted violence on Smith. On 14 March 2020 Brockhill punched Smith in the face at a pub and later says it was an accident.
On 15 March 2020 Brockhill texts her boxing sparring partner to say she tried to kill herself and Smith by driving off a cliff but ended up just giving Smith “a hiding”. She says she thinks she needs help, “mentally” and that “I’m out of control. Honestly, I just can’t, I just lose it”.
Star would stay with David and Anita for 11 weeks until late April 2020. David says the point Star returned to her mother was when "everything changed".
David recounted how he Granddaughter rang and said that she and Brockhill wanted Star back as she was their child and that Brockhill made it clear that they were going to bring her up their way
Soon afterwards, in May 2020, Anita Smith would become the second person to contact Bradford social services following Hollie's January report about Star after learning she had been "slam-choked" by Brockhill.
David says: "We'd never heard of it. What's slam-choking a 10-month-old baby? What's going on? We were told Savannah...she picks her up and she grabs her neck and throws her on the bed."
He says Anita called social services and warned Bradford Council they would have "another Baby P on their hands" if they did not intervene in Star's case. But he says the complaint was closed after it had been dismissed as malicious and based on their dislike of Brockhill.
Following that report Brockhill and Smith isolated themselves from family members. they moved away and blocked almost all contact with David and Anita.
on the rare occasions they could see their great-granddaughter they noted bruising and David even posted a photograph of Star on facebook showing her bruised face and asking Smith what was going on and how his great-granddaughter cold be in such a state having only been back with her Mother for 5 weeks. , however Smith just blocked them on the site
However that photograph was also seen by Smith's ex-partner and Star's Dad, Jordan up in Sunderland and away from his daughter so on June 21st 2020 he too made a report - as did another family friend this was the 3rd and 4th report by 4 separate individuals in 6 months
Police visited Smith and Star was examined by a doctor. This would be the only time she was taken for medical treatment. On this occasion, as on others, the couple explained away the injuries, blaming them on the clumsy toddler: Star hitting her head on a coffee table; walking into a sofa; falling and tripping.
It was enough for the cases to be closed.
However the abuse of baby Star over that summer was not just violence. she was humiliated and they often made mobile phone video's of the child falling over or even falling asleep into her food, putting this to music and posting on social media as a source of amusement hiding the fact the child was not clumsy she was physically and mentally exhausted.
Police also uncovered internet searches on how to hide bruising
It was during this time that Brockhill also posted the what is now infamous “number one psycho” video message online. where she makes it clear what violence she would inflict on anyone who tried to take her girlfriend from her
Brockhill also sends a message to one of Smith’s sisters asking if Smith is cheating on her, saying: “I’m broken, I’ll stab someone tonight, I swear.” She threatens to go and confront Smith: “I don’t care about kids in the house, I will rage. Fuck it, they’re going to need police in the house to take me away.”
By September, as the abuse had continued to increase, another of Star's great-grandfathers made the last report to Social Services before the child's death. The 6th report in 9 months by 5 separate people.
This time Social Services visited unannounced but Brockhill was able to convince them that all of the reports were made maliciously because the family were unhappy that Smith was now in a relationship with a woman.
They closed the case on September 15, concluding the referral to be malicious.
a week later little Star was dead.
However the day before Social Services closed the last report Brockhill, who was working overnight as a security guard, drove with Star to a recycling plant in Doncaster.
In CCTV footage recorded over the course of three hours outside the site, Brockhill is seen to deliver a total of 21 blows to the toddler whilst she is fastened into a car seat in the rear of the vehicle. She was babysitting Star because Smith wanted to go out drinking.
At one point, the blows are so ferocious the little girl falls out of the car and Brockhill is seen lifting her back up by her throat, she was 16 months old. .
A video recorded the next morning, on 14 September, upon their return to the couple's flat shows a large mark on Star's cheek.
According to evidence heard in court, this episode prompted a dispute between the couple, with Smith texting Brockhill: "Stay away from us". but this separation was not to last. because on 20 September CCTV footage shows Smith dragging Star through Bradford city centre on her reins, with Star’s head dropping to one side.
On 22 September 2020 Star dies. in the 10 months since her Mother began her relationship with Brockhill the baby had gone from a lovely alert baby to a depressed and beaten Toddler. Star was playing with two other children at the couple's flat when she was violently assaulted. Internet searches on "shock in babies" and "how to bring a baby out of shock" were made 15 minutes before any 999 call. She was found "apparently lifeless, pale" and wearing only a nappy when paramedics arrived at the couple's flat on Wesley Place after a 999 call
The toddler died an hour later in hospital and a post-mortem examination found lacerations on her internal organs and bruising over the lungs and abdomen, All these injuries had been caused by a severe and forceful blow, or blows, either in the form of punching, stamping or kicking to the abdomen
Just over a year later the Trial commenced at Bradford Crown Court
Opening the trial, prosecutor Alistair MacDonald said Star had "suffered a number of significant injuries at different times", including fractures to the back of the head and right shin, with the latter "caused by forceful twisting".
"Star had been repeatedly physically assaulted over the weeks and months before her death," he said.
Mr MacDonald said that Ms Smith and Ms Brockhill were the only adults in the flat at the time, although two other young children were present.
He told the jury: "It will be the prosecution case that it is nothing short of absurd to suggest that these injuries were caused by another young child.
"Despite the catalogue of injuries of which we have spoken, at no time was Star taken for medical help other, of course, than that 999 call made in the last hour and 15 minutes of Star's life."
his comment relating to blaming a child is the 999 call made by Brockhill which eluded to the children being alone in the room when Star collapsed
The fatal injury to Star's abdomen left lacerations on her internal organs, deemed to be the result of "severe and forceful" blows. In court, prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC told jurors there "never was any real chance of saving her life" once those injuries had been inflicted.
Hospital staff said Star was dead on arrival by the time she was brought to Airedale General Hospital, a few miles from Keighley. They were struck by Brockhill and Smith's odd behaviour - Brockhill's aggression, Smith's reluctance to hold her daughter - and flagged their concerns to a safeguarding team.
The women would be arrested and charged with Star's murder. Investigations would reveal the child's multiple injuries, the strange social media videos and dozens of texts illustrating the dysfunctional relationship the little girl had become caught in the middle of.
During a harrowing trial, jurors were told Star died in hospital from blood loss after her inferior vena cava - the largest vein in the body - was torn.
Medics said her injuries were usually only seen in car crash victims and had been caused by either "punches, kicks or stamps".
Doctors also discovered a number of "significant injuries" the baby had suffered "at different times during her short life".
This included two fractures to the right shin bone "caused by forceful twisting", a fractured skull and an old brain injury.
In total she had 15 separate injuries to her head and ten bruises to her legs, ankles, feet and toes.
The Jury were also shown mobile phone footage of Ms Smith shouting at the girl.
One clip showed Smith telling the sleeping child "Star get up it's not your nap time yet", adding "Evil aren't I". Smith testified that she sent the video to Ms Brockhill.
Asked by her lawyer Zafar Ali QC why she did it she said that Ms Brockhill told her she had to wake her up as it was not Star's nap time.
"Why wake her up in that hostile manner, that horrible way?" Mr Ali asked.
"Savannah said I had to be firm with her, so I tried to be," Ms Smith replied.
Asked how she felt about the video now, she replied: "It makes me feel sick, I should never have spoken to her like that."
Another video showed the exhausted child falling off her chair. When questioned about this Ms Smith said: "At the time I thought it was funny. I'd seen videos on Facebook, I didn't think I was doing anything wrong."
She added that now she felt "it was cruel. It wasn't a nice thing to do".
Savannah Brockhill was found guilty of murder, and Star Hobson's mother Frankie Smith of causing or allowing the toddler's death, after she died from a cardiac arrest following months of physical abuse. Brockhill showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered. Smith cried uncontrollably.
Following the verdicts at Bradford Crown Court, Anita Banerjee, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said Star had suffered "catastrophic" injuries and experienced "humiliation, cruelty and pain at the hands of those who should have protected her most".
They were responsible for inflicting catastrophic injuries on a helpless young child.
"Throughout her short life Star was subjected to endless physical assaults and psychological harm.
"Instead of love and protection, she experienced a world of humiliation, cruelty and pain at the hands of those who should have protected her most.
"It is impossible to imagine how any parent or carer could inflict this level of pain and suffering on an entirely defenceless little girl. Our thoughts remain with Star's family, as they have been throughout."
the link to the full sentence is below
in sentencing MRS JUSTICE LAMBERT DBE said
Star Hobson was born on 21 May 2019. She was 16 months when she was murdered. Her short life was marked by neglect, cruelty and injury.
She was murdered by you Savannah Brockhill.
Frankie Smith, it was your role as her mother to protect Star from harm. You have been convicted by this jury of failing to protect her and thereby allowing her death. I now sentence you both for these offences.
Frankie Smith you were 17 when you became pregnant with Star and you were 19 when these terrible events took place. I have heard evidence from your family that you were immature for your age and from Mr Eric Wright, a clinical psychologist, that you have a low IQ of only 70 and were unusually compliant, seeking the approval of those in authority. You were a neglectful parent even before you began your relationship with Savannah Brockhill.
Whilst you were still with Star’s father you took full advantage of those around you to babysit so that you could go out and enjoy yourself. I accept though that when you met Savannah Brockhill, she proved to be an even greater distraction and that you, as a rather immature and impressionable girl, became obsessed by her.
Savannah Brockhill: for the offence of murder of Star Hobson, the sentence is one of life imprisonment. Taking account of all of the factors which I have set out above, the minimum term of imprisonment which you will serve before the Parole Board consider you for release is a term of 25 years, less the 443 days which you have spent on remand in custody following your arrest. If that calculation is found to be wrong, then it can be corrected administratively. I remind you that the minimum term is just that. You may in fact serve longer. 29.Frankie Smith: for the offence of allowing the death of Star Hobson, the least possible sentence which I can impose is one of 8 years imprisonment. You will serve up to 2/3 of that term before you will be released on licence. The time that you also have spent on remand will count towards the time you must serve automatically. I do not find you to be a dangerous offender justifying the imposition of an extended sentence.
so what now.........
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that Brockhill was given £10,290 in legal aid to pay for a solicitor to help fight her case in court.
Brockhill will not have had direct access to this money, with the cash instead going straight to the lawyers.
However, The Sun Newspaper reported in January 2021 that Brockhill ahs whilst behind bars spent £9,000 on a luxurious diamond encrusted Rolex watch.
They also claim Brockhill has her own room in prison with a TV and en-suite and has reportedly also been bragging about life in her cushy cell.
Despite her sick and heinous crime, prison sources have revealed Brockhill has a fan club of admirers who send messages of support.
she is also reported to be furious that Smith only received 8 years and has acted remorselessly before other prisoners
meanwhile Smith's sentence may be under review as being too lenient and prison sources have reported She’s a marked woman and it won’t be long before someone gets to her.
She is said to be a target at New Hall prison in Yorkshire, the facility where infamous killer Rose West is incarcerated.
‘She’s on the lifers’ wing so there are plenty of women with very little to lose who will attack her for the price of a few bars of chocolate or some toiletries.’
Its also reported that Smith has wallpapered her cell at New Hall prison, Wakefield, with pictures of Star, and always speaks of Star as if she is still alive.
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