Grandad tells court he broke down in tears last time he saw ‘painfully thin’ baby ‘shaken to death by mum & stepdad’
A TODDLER allegedly murdered by his stepdad following a “cruel” campaign of neglect had appeared “extremely hungry” and “painfully thin”, his grandparents told a court.
Little Charlie Roberts was 22 months old when he died allegedly from a “catastrophic” head injury at his home in Darlington, Co Durham, in January this year.
Prosecutors claim he was thrown or shaken to death with “devastating” force by Christopher Stockton, his mother’s new boyfriend, and assaulted “so violently that his brain moved within the skull”.
Stockton, 38, is accused of murdering the tot after committing abuse over the course of seven months.
Charlie’s mother Paula Roberts, 41, is also on trial charged with child neglect.
At Teesside Crown Court, Charlie’s paternal grandad told how the youngster appeared hungry on weekly visits to their home with “pitifully thin” arms and legs.
Ken Greenwell told jurors: “There was no muscle development. Not what you would expert to see on a child that age.
“Where they stand on the couch and pull themselves up, he struggled to do that.
“When we first started getting him, he couldn’t really sit up properly. We would have to put cushions behind him on the couch.
“He wasn’t a greedy child. He didn’t rush his food or gobble it down, but you couldn’t fill him up.”
Mr Greenwell broke down in tears when he recalled seeing Charlie for one of the final times last Christmas.
He added: “My observation as a grandparent is that his arms, his muscular development, was underdeveloped.
“His speech was not where it should be, his walking was behind. Everything was behind.
“His arms and his legs were painfully thin, disproportionately.”
Prosecutors claim Stockton carried out the fatal assault while alone with Charlie, who allegedly suffered “cruel and uncaring” injuries in the seven months before his death.
Mr Greenwell recalled seeing a bruise the “size of a squash ball” when Charlie came to visit on Boxing Day last year.
He said: “There was a big bruise on his head. It wasn’t a new bruise because it was yellowing.”
Charlie’s grandma, Carol Greenwell, told jurors in a written statement: “Charlie seemed too thin to me and he didn’t seem to be putting on weight.
“Charlie was always extremely hungry when he came to my house. I would not describe him as greedy but he was absolutely unfillable.”
She added: “We began to notice that Charlie would have bruises on him.
“We would notice bruises on most occasions. These tended to be on Charlie’s face.
“Although Charlie did have bruises, I did not believe there was anything untoward about these bruises and I put it down to the fact that Charlie was becoming mobile.”
Paramedics were called to mum-of-five Roberts’ home in Darlington on January 12 this year after Stockton made a 999 call claiming the toddler had choked on a biscuit.
Medics looked into Charlie’s mouth using a special device to check his airways but found nothing there, jurors were told.
Charlie died the following day at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary from the “catastrophic effects of a head injury” after he had been “shaken or thrown with such violence”, prosecutors claim.
Stockton denies murder and child neglect, while Roberts has pleaded not guilty to a charge of neglect.
The trial continues.