A man who murdered his partner’s 22-month-old son has been jailed for at least 25 years.
Christopher Stockton, 38, claimed Charlie Roberts choked on a biscuit at their Darlington home in January 2024, but doctors quickly deduced the toddler had been fatally shaken.
Stockton was jailed for life with a minimum term at Teesside Crown Court after being found guilty of murder and abusing Charlie in the months before the boy’s death.
Charlie’s mum, Paula Roberts, 41, who wanted her son to call Stockton “daddy,” was jailed for four years after admitting neglect by failing to get him medical treatment for previous injuries.
The judge said she had “turned a blind eye” to the cruelty and violence her boyfriend was inflicting on her son.
Christopher Stockton was found guilty of murder and child cruelty
Stockton and Roberts started a relationship in early 2023, and he moved into her home on Frosterley Drive just seven days before Charlie was fatally injured, the murder trial heard.
Family and nursery staff noticed suspicious bruises on Charlie in the months before his death, but, other than installing a spy camera in her son’s bedroom, Roberts took no further action, the court was told.
Stockton had been in charge of Charlie for 18 minutes on the morning of 12 January when he called 999 to say the boy had gone “floppy” and was struggling to breathe.
Stockton was so calm on the call that a Great North Air Ambulance medic thought it was a hoax, the court heard, with the killer claiming he was too unwell to perform CPR on Charlie as he was struggling with pneumonia at the time.
He claimed Charlie had choked on a biscuit while playing in a toy tunnel in their living room, but medical staff were immediately suspicious.
Royal Victoria Infirmary revealed Charlie had catastrophic bleeding in his brain, which led to his death the next day.
Pathologists concluded he had been deliberately violently shaken or had his head struck with severe force.
Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley KC previously told jurors Stockton had “little patience” for Charlie, while Roberts was prepared to “overlook” her boyfriend’s actions to “keep him in her life.”.
The judge said Paula Roberts prioritised her relationship over her child
Roberts had initially denied any wrongdoing but, part way through the trial, admitted child cruelty through the wilful neglect of Charlie by failing to get him medical treatment for injuries to his ear and genitals in the weeks before his death