Star Hobson’s mother has branded her ex girlfriend ‘a monster’ and says she thinks of her daughter ‘every day’ from her cell.
Frankie Smith’s daughter was murdered by Savannah Brockhill in September 2020.
Star had been ‘caught in the crossfire’ of the pair’s toxic relationship.
The 16-month-old died after suffering from ‘utterly catastrophic’ blunt-force injuries at home in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Brockhill, a former bouncer and security guard, received a minimum sentence of 25 years following the horrific murder.
Smith was sentenced to eight years ‘for causing or allowing’ Star’s death at the hands of her on-off girlfriend.
Now, her time behind bars has been extended to 12 years after the Court of Appeal ruled her sentence had been ‘unduly lenient’.
Smith’s grandfather, David Fawcett continues to visit her in prison and said she will ‘struggle’ with the extended sentence.
He told the Mirror: ’There will be family members who will be happy about this – everyone has their opinion. But Frankie will struggle with that news, she has been struggling already.
‘She’s lost a couple of friends who got moved to an open prison in York and she was upset about that, it was without warning then she had one friend left. But she was told at the weekend that she’s being moved. She said “I’ve got no friends left now”.’
David said attempts to convince Smith to leave her violent girlfriend had fallen on deaf ears.
He added: ‘I begged Frankie to leave her but she was brainwashed by her.
‘Frankie calls her “The Monster’” too. It’s dawned on her what’s happened now.
‘She has pictures of Star all over her cell and misses her every day. She did not go to her funeral and has not been to her final resting place so finds it hard to accept she’s gone.
‘We know people have different opinions on this. But one thing we all agree on is that if Frankie had never met this monster none of this would ever have happened.’
Dame Victoria Sharp, president of the Queen’s Bench Division, who chaired this week’s appeal hearing, said: ‘The circumstances of Star’s treatment at the hands of both of them over a prolonged period of time are harrowing and deeply disturbing.’
She added that Smith showed a ‘consistent pattern of cruelty’ towards Star in the months before her death.
During last year’s trial, it emerged that family and friends had tried to raise the alarm about bruising they saw on Star.
But Brockhill and Smith worked together to convince social workers that the injuries were accidental.
They said complaints had been made maliciously against them by estranged family.
The jury also heard how Smith developed a ‘strange and unhealthy obsession’ with Brockhill at the expense of her daughter.
Smith told the court how Brockhill punched her, locked her in the bathroom and threatened to drive her off a cliff on different occasions.
The abuse extended to Star who was filmed being punched in the back of a car at a recycling plant where Brockhill worked.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
