Attorney General asks Appeal Court to increase mother of Star Hobson’s eight-year jail sentence
Attorney General Suella Braverman asks Appeal Court to increase mother of Star Hobson’s eight-year jail sentence for allowing her 16-month-old daughter to be killed by her girlfriend
- Attorney General asked Court of Appeal to increase Star’s mother’s sentence
- Suella Braverman said she believes Frankie Smith’s sentence was ‘lenient’
- But she said she could not recommend increase for Savannah Brockhill
- Star was murdered after suffering months of abuse in her home in Keighley
- Her mother Smith was jailed for eight years for allowing 16-month-old’s death
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The Attorney General has today asked the Court of Appeal to increase Star Hobson’s mother’s eight-jail sentence.
Suella Braverman said the case was ‘tragic and extremely upsetting’ and she believes Frankie Smith’s sentence was ‘unduly lenient’.
But she said she could not recommend any increase to the sentence imposed on murderer Savannah Brockhill, Smith’s former partner who was jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years in prison.
The Attorney General said: ‘I can only challenge a sentence if it is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.
‘The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case.’
Star was murdered by Brockhill after suffering months of abuse in her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire during the Covid lockdown in 2020.
Last month, Smith was jailed for eight years after being convicted of causing or allowing the 16-month-old’s death.
Innocent Star had been tormented and abused by Smith and Brockhill during her short life
Star’s mother Frankie Smith, 20 (L), was cleared of murder, but found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child at Bradford Crown Court after three days of deliberation. Savannah Brockhill, 28 (R), was convicted by a jury unanimously of the murder of Star Hobson
In a statement, the Attorney General said: ‘This is a tragic and extremely upsetting case and my thoughts are with all those who loved Star Hobson.
‘This vulnerable and innocent child was subjected to continued physical abuse, and her mother, Frankie Smith, allowed it to happen.
‘This case will have caused upset to anyone who read about it, but my job is to decide if a sentence appears to be too low based solely on the facts of the case.
‘I have carefully considered the details of this case, and I concluded that I can refer Frankie Smith’s sentence to the Court of Appeal as I believe it is unduly lenient. However, I have concluded that I cannot refer Savannah Brockhill’s sentence.
‘I can only challenge a sentence if it is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available in the circumstances of the offence.
‘The threshold is a high one, and the test was not met in this case.’
This is a breaking news story. More to follow
