Stepdad who murdered toddler after all-nighter playing Xbox jailed for 25 years
A stepdad who murdered his partner’s one-year-old son then tried to claim he choked to death on a hobnob has been jailed for at least 25 years.
Christopher Stockton, 38, had only been left alone with Charlie Roberts for 20 minutes while the toddler’s mum Paula Roberts, 41, popped out for an eye test on January 12 last year.
Their trial at Teesside Crown Court heard she was so worried about Stockton that she had set up a spy camera above Charlie’s cot at their home in Darlington.
But aside from telling her brother she was concerned, she did nothing to help her son.
She eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of neglect by failing to get Charlie medical treatment for bruising caused by Stockton over several weeks.
Roberts was jailed for four years.
Mr Justice Goss, sentencing, said Charlie, who was born two months prematurely and had difficulty communicating, was particularly vulnerable.
He said only Stockton knew why he inflicted the fatal blow which caused brain injuries similar to those seen in a car crash, a crushing incident or a fall of several storeys.
The judge told Stockton: ‘You have robbed his family of the joy of bringing up a child and of sharing life events with him.
‘No court can undo the harm you have caused.’
Jurors heard Stockton lost his temper with Charlie in a 20-minute window between Roberts leaving and his 999 call.
Nicholas Lumley KC, prosecuting, told jurors Stockton ‘shook or threw him with such violence, deliberately and forcefully harming little Charlie’.
Stockton, who was given a life sentence today, can be heard on a recording repeatedly saying ‘come on mate’ and ‘wakey wakey’ to the little boy, who was not breathing.
He was to tell paramedics, doctors and the police that Charlie had choked on a biscuit and that he patted the child on the back and stuck his fingers down the toddler’s throat.
The toddler died in hospital the next day.
Stockton was off sick from work that day and had stayed up into the early hours playing Xbox games.
He had only moved in with Roberts and her son seven days before killing him.
But the court was told Charlie had been suffering unexplained bruises for months before he died.
Roberts pleaded guilty to neglect during the trial.
She admitted failing to seek medical help for her little boy in December and January after he suffered injuries to his private parts and to his ear.
Social services were concerned about the little boy’s welfare at home with his mother after he was taken to hospital in May 2023 with bruising, but no action was taken at the time.
Roberts tried to explain that bruises on Charlie’s ear months later were caused by him resting on his toy box while he was sleepwalking or from falling out of bed.
Dr Deborah Stalker, an expert paediatrician and specialist in child protection, studied photos of Charlie while he was alive. She also sought advice from medical experts and used post-mortem images.
She said: ‘In my opinion, this is a non-accidental injury, by that I mean it is a purposefully-inflicted injury. Accidental injuries to the ear are very rare.’
Stockton was also found guilty of child cruelty.
Outside court, Charlie’s dad Barry Greenwell said: ‘Charlie was a much-loved son and grandson who has been taken away needlessly and has left the whole family with a void that will never be filled.
‘As a family we are processing the recent events and are trying to come to terms with the verdict and information given that has been deeply disturbing to ourselves.’
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