Alfie Lamb: Mother of boy ‘crushed by car seat’ jailed for almost three years

A mother whose toddler was allegedly crushed to death by a car seat has been jailed for two years and nine months.

Adrian Hoare, 24, from Gravesend in Kent, was found guilty of putting her son Alfie Lamb, three, into harm’s way by putting him into the footwell of an Audi convertible.

Her boyfriend, Stephen Waterson, 25, from Croydon, was accused of crushing the toddler by reversing his car seat over him.

A jury failed to reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge for Waterson, who is due to be retried in September.

The Old Bailey heard how Alfie had collapsed on a journey to Croydon from Sutton after a shopping trip.

He died in hospital three days later.

Hoare was found guilty of child cruelty and of assaulting Emilie Williams, who was in the car when Alfie was fatally hurt.

Katy Thorne, Hoare’s lawyer, said Alfie had been a “happy child” and there was no previous evidence of neglect.

She said: “Ms Hoare has been hugely affected by Alfie’s death, not least because she feels a huge amount of guilt over it.

“Ms Hoare is deeply remorseful of what happened in that car that night.”

Ms Thorne said Hoare had co-operated with police since her conviction.

Mr Justice Kerr jailed her for two years for child cruelty, eight months for perverting the course of justice, and one month for assault.

He told her: “This is a very sad case. You intended no harm to Alfie.

“You put him in danger by allowing him to travel in the footwell of the car.

“There was an element of deliberate disregard for Alfie’s welfare.

“I cannot ignore your own admission that you had allowed him to travel in the footwell many times.”

He also said Hoare had failed to tell paramedics and doctors what had happened and should have mentioned anything that would have helped him.

Justice Kerr said: “I accept and bear in mind you lost Alfie, your only child. That is punishment already.
“I accept you are remorseful although it did not show very much because you were numb in your trial.”

(c) Sky News 2019: Alfie Lamb: Mother of boy ‘crushed by car seat’ jailed for almost three years