'Absolutely evil' Star Hobson killer 'controlled' whole family, great grandfather says

16 March 2022, 09:39

Nick Ferrari speaks to Star Hobson's great grandfather David Fawcett

Star Hobson's killer was "absolutely evil" and "controlled" the whole family, the toddler's great grandfather has told LBC.

Speaking on LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, David Fawcett said that Savannah Brockhill showed "controlling" behaviour over the entire family, suggesting Star's mum was a victim too.

It comes after the mother of the murdered toddler - Frankie Smith - had her prison sentence extended at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

She was initially sentenced to eight years in prison for causing or allowing her daughter's death, but it was later increased to 12 years.

"When you heard the increase in sentence, what was your reaction Mr Fawcett?" Nick asked.

"We weren't surprised, we expected it to be increased. It did seem a bit too lenient.

"I just said it might be increased to 10 years - that's what we thought - but when they said 12 it was a bit of a shock."

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"When you say it's a shock do you believe it's unfair on the woman?" Nick went on to say.

"Not unfair, but I just can't understand that when she was sentenced in the first place...I just think Frankie was a victim herself. She was abused by Savannah Brockhill. She could have got Star out of that situation but she was so controlled. We noticed the change in Frankie."

Nick said: "At the appeal, they did say the woman showed a deliberate disregard for her daughter's safety - a lot of people would say 12 years isn't enough for what she allowed to happen."

"A lot of people have said they both should have got the same, but Frankie was found not guilty of murder and not guilty of manslaughter," Mr Fawcett explained.

When asked how Brockhill controlled Smith, Mr Fawcett said: "She seemed to take control of the entire family.

"I don't know where she came from but Frankie's sisters were frightened of her and Frankie's mum.

"She even controlled the social workers when they came to visit."

Nick asked Mr Fawcett if he felt Brockhill was evil.

"Yes, definitely," he said. "Absolutely evil. The way she controlled everything - she blocked my phone, she stopped Anita (Star's great grandmother) from seeing Star, she isolated Frankie, she moved her away, we couldn't get any contact with her."

He went on to say: "She was making threats to me that if I went anywhere near Star I'd be in bother."