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Alfie Lamb trial: Crushed toddler 'was slapped and forced into footwell'

Alfie Lamb’s trial continues (PA)
Alfie Lamb’s trial continues (PA)

The tragic toddler who died after being crushed by an electric car seat had been slapped and forced to travel in the footwell of a vehicle before, a court has heard.

Alfie Lamb, three, was squashed when Stephen Waterson, 25, moved his seat back – something his mother Adrian Hoare, 23, did nothing to stop it, it is claimed.

Giving evidence, Waterson’s half-sister Samantha Dawson described Alfie as “the loveliest boy you could ever meet”.

Alfie was just three when he died (PA)
Alfie was just three when he died (PA)

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC asked how the couple had treated Alfie when they visited her in Blackpool shortly before his death.

Ms Dawson replied: “It varies on what mood they are in.”

She told the court when they were not in a good mood, they treated him “badly”.

She said: “They were always throwing him about and telling him off. (They would) pick him up and throw him on the sofa, both of them.

“They would both literally just pick him up by his arms or slap him round the head. I saw both of them do it.”

Alfie and his mother, Adrian Hoare (PA)
Alfie and his mother, Adrian Hoare (PA)

The witness told the Old Bailey that Waterson had picked her up in a Vauxhall Astra and taken her to London a few months before Alfie died.

On that occasion, there were three adult passengers, including Hoare, with Alfie and another child in the footwell, the court heard.

Ms Dawson told Waterson the children should be in car seats but he responded, “Ah, they will be OK”, the court was told.

She told jurors Alfie could not get comfortable because he did not have much room but Hoare said he was alright and they would be there soon.

Stephen Waterson and Adrian Hoare in court (PA)
Stephen Waterson and Adrian Hoare in court (PA)

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The witness added: “I heard a connection to his head, a slap land to his head from Adrian.

“He was crying and screaming. She said ‘shut up crying or I will give you something to cry for’.”

Ms Dawson was giving evidence via video link from HMP Styal, in Cheshire, where she is serving 30 weeks for a benefit-related offence.

Hoare and Waterson, from Croydon, south London, have denied Alfie’s manslaughter.

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