The Attorney General says the eight-year jail term for Frankie Smith is “unduly lenient”.
Image source, West Yorkshire Police
The jail sentence handed to the mum of murdered toddler Star Hobson was “too low”, the attorney general says.
Star died in 2020 after months of “neglect, cruelty and injury”.
Her mother Frankie Smith, 20, was sentenced to eight years for causing or allowing her death. Smith’s partner, Savannah Brockhill, 28, was jailed for a minimum of 25 years for murder
Suella Braverman said she had referred Smith’s sentence to the Court of Appeal as she thought it was “unduly lenient”.
Image source, Facebook
Ms Braverman MP 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.”
However, she said she would not be referring Brockhill’s sentence to the Court of Appeal.
She 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.”
A date for the Court of Appeal hearing is yet to be announced.
Image source, David Fawcett
A seven-week trial at Bradford Crown Court heard the toddler endured a campaign of physical and psychological abuse.
She bled to death on 22 September 2020 after suffering “catastrophic” injuries at the hands of Brockhill, her mother’s “violent-tempered” girlfriend.
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