A man who shook his partner’s toddler to death after staying up late playing video games has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years for the 22-month-old’s murder.
Christopher Stockton, 38, was in sole charge of Charlie Roberts when the boy suffered a fatal head injury in the Darlington family home, but his mother Paula admitted neglecting him prior to the murder.
Roberts, 41, was suspicious enough about Stockton that she set up a spy camera above her son’s cot, a trial at Teesside Crown Court heard in December.
But she stayed in a relationship with him, even after she voiced her concerns about Stockton to her brother.
Christopher Stockton was convicted of murder and child cruelty (Durham Police/PA)
Having initially denied a child cruelty charge, Roberts was to eventually admit neglecting her son by failing to get Charlie medical treatment for bruising caused by Stockton over several weeks.
Her boyfriend was convicted of murder and child cruelty.
Stockton was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years.
Roberts has been jailed for four years.
Stockton, who had moved in with Roberts and her little boy just seven days earlier, was in sole charge of Charlie when he inflicted a severe head injury which caused widespread bleeding on the brain in January 2024.
Nicholas Lumley KC, prosecuting, told jurors that Stockton “shook or threw him with such violence, deliberately and forcefully harming little Charlie”.
Roberts had left the home minutes before to go for an eye test, and Stockton, who was off work ill and who had stayed up into the early hours playing Xbox games, must have snapped that January morning, the court was told.
Charlie Roberts suffered widespread bleeding on the brain (Durham Police/PA)
Stockton rang 999 and could be heard on a recording repeatedly saying “come on mate” and “wakey wakey” to the little boy, who was not breathing.
Stockton 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.
Jamie Hill KC, defending Stockton, told the court on Friday that he had no previous convictions, the murder was not premeditated and there was no intention to kill.
Richard Herrmann, defending Roberts, said she had struggled with mental health issues.
She wept as Mr Herrmann said: “She has to live with the knowledge that had she acted differently it would not have happened.”
Nicholas Lumley KC, prosecuting, said Charlie’s father and two grandfathers had written statements for the court about their sense of loss, but all three did not want them read out in public.
After Stockton’s conviction, 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.”
Detective Superintendent Chris Barker, who led the inquiry, said: “To install a spy camera, as Paula Roberts did, means there must have been concerns about him.
“If you have concerns about those caring for your children, you must act, speak out or ask for help.
“Charlie had everything to live for, but his life was cruelly cut short.”