Jury sent to deliberate on County Durham mum, accused of murdering toddler
Christina Robinson, 30, is representing herself in court after parting ways with her legal team - and denies the charges
A jury has been sent out to deliberate, in the trial of a County Durham woman accused of murdering her 3 year old son
30 year old Christina Robinson denies killing Dwelaniyah, by violently shaking him at their family home in Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, in November 2022.
She also denies four child cruelty offences which are said to have happened in the weeks leading up to his death.
During the three-week trial, the Crown has claimed Robinson deliberately scalded the little boy as a punishment, that she hit him with spoons, slapped him and beat him with a bamboo cane, that she did not seek medical attention for his burns, and that she neglected him by leaving him alone at home.
Robinson, who is now representing herself after parting with her legal team, told the jury in her closing speech earlier on Tuesday: "Please do not find me guilty for something I have not done."
She questioned the 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.
Robinson, originally from Tamworth, Staffordshire, denied the claim that her son was an "inconvenience", pointing out that she always wanted a large family.
She did accept that she used the cane on Dwelaniyah, describing it as a form of "correction", but said she had been "misguided", having heard a religious lesson online.
"My reasons behind it was simply that I believed I was doing the right thing, it is in the Bible," the follower of the Black Hebrew Israelites religion said.
She said Dwelaniyah was burned accidentally while she washed him in the shower and that she did not seek medical attention for him because she was ashamed.
Mr Justice Garnham sent the jury out to start their deliberations and said they were under no pressure of time.