A 30-year-old mother from England has been handed a life sentence, with a minimum of 25 years behind bars, for the murder of her 3-year-old son. Her justification for weeks of abuse leading up to the child’s tragic death? Citing advice from the Bible.
At the trial in Newcastle Crown Court, it came to light that Christina Robinson, residing in Tamworth, Staffordshire, subjected her son Dwelaniyah to extended periods of cruelty. Reports from The Telegraph indicate she used a bamboo cane for beatings, citing biblical scripture as her justification.
This scripture, she claimed, sanctioned physical chastisement to correct a child’s behavior. Robinson’s defense centered around these religious beliefs linked to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, a faith she adheres to.
The movement’s members, comprising those who believe African Americans are descendants of the ancient Israelites from the Bible, adhere strictly to their interpretations of the Bible, which they believe to be the literal word of God. Some groups also incorporate elements of the Torah into their religious practices. However, not all groups within the movement share the same doctrines, and beliefs can range from orthodox to more Christian-influenced interpretations.
Justice Garnham, presiding over the trial, condemned Robinson’s actions, highlighting the brutal nature of the offenses, including an incident where she scalded her son in boiling water after he soiled himself. This act reportedly caused severe burns to 20% of his body, primarily affecting his lower limbs. Robinson did not seek medical help, likely because it would have revealed the abuse due to the obvious nature of his injuries to case workers.
The culmination of this abuse was a fatal head injury that Robinson inflicted on Nov. 5, 2022, in their home in Ushaw Moor, Durham, by shaking or possibly throwing Dwelaniyah against a hard object, as concluded by a post-mortem examination, which confirmed that the child had suffered multiple non-accidental injuries over a period.
A police support officer, Paul Gilroy, who responded to an emergency call at Robinson’s home, told the court that he arrived alongside the paramedics, as reported by ITV. He observed a little boy wearing a nappy, his legs wrapped in blood-stained bandages. As the paramedics attended to her son, Robinson remained mostly silent and passive. When questioned by the ambulance crew about the incident, she claimed ignorance of what had transpired. Gilroy noted her demeanor as surprisingly calm and seemingly unpanicked.
The court heard from prosecutor Richard Wright that the violence was often inflicted for minor misbehaviors that Robinson perceived as severe offenses deserving harsh physical punishment.
“These beatings were administered as punishments for behavior that was objectively trivial,” Garnham noted, according to The Telegraph.
After the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Turner expressed his distress over the case.
“Dwelaniyah was a defenseless little boy who had his life ahead of him, but this was cruelly taken away by his own mother — someone he should have been able to trust, someone who should have cared about him,” Turner was quoted as saying.
Read the complete story on ChristianPost.com
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