Alfie Lamb car seat death: Mother’s ‘arrogant’ partner admits manslaughter

A man described as “arrogant, selfish and deeply unpleasant” – has admitted crushing a 3-year-old boy to death with his car seat.

Stephen Waterson, 26, squashed Alfie Lamb in the footwell of his Audi convertible in what a judge said was a “selfish and cruel act” – while his mother Adrian Hoare looked on.

Afterwards, Waterson, the adopted son of former Tory minister Nigel Waterson, attempted to cover-up what he did.

He initially denied manslaughter and had been ordered to face a retrial after a jury failed to reach a verdict, but on Monday – ahead of his fresh trial – he changed his plea and admitted causing Alfie’s death by gross negligence.

At the end of May, Hoare, 24, from Gravesend in Kent, was found guilty of child cruelty and jailed for two years and nine months.

Both she and Waterson admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice by lying to police and Waterson was convicted of intimidating a witness, and Hoare of assaulting another witness.

It is the first time anyone in the UK has died from being crushed by an electronic car seat, police have said.

On 15 February last year, the pair went shopping with Alfie, another young child and two other people – Emilie Williams, 19 and 22-year-old Marcus Lamb.

Jurors in the earlier trial were shown CCTV of Alfie running to keep up with his mother just before he was put in the vehicle for the journey back to south London.

The court heard how Waterson, who worked in a nightclub, became annoyed with the little boy’s crying and moved his front passenger seat into him as he sat at his mother’s feet.

At the touch of a button, the maximum space in the foot well – 30cm (11.8 inches) – could be reduced to just 9.5cm (3.7 inches).

Hoare told jurors that when Alfie continued to moan, Waterson reversed again saying: “I won’t be told what to do by a three-year-old”.

When they arrived at Waterson’s home, Alfie collapsed and stopped breathing – and as medics desperately tried to save him, Waterson fled the scene.

In an attempt to protect her boyfriend, Hoare told a pack of lies, claiming she had been in a taxi – three days later, Alfie died from crush asphyxia.

Waterson gave police a false name and statement, sold the car and threatened to make Hoare and other witnesses “disappear” if they failed to stick to their stories.

Hoare eventually broke her silence and told her half sister Ashleigh Jeffrey what happened in a taped conversation handed to police.

But Waterson blamed Mr Lamb, who he regarded as a step-brother, for being a “grass” – and violently assaulted him in Crystal Palace Park – putting his foot on his head -and filming the incident on his mobile phone.

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(c) Sky News 2019: Alfie Lamb car seat death: Mother’s ‘arrogant’ partner admits manslaughter