London - A boy of three cried "Mummy" as he was deliberately crushed with a car seat by his mother’s boyfriend, a court heard yesterday.
Stephen Waterson, 25, is accused of fatally injuring Alfie Lamb because he was making too much noise.
Alfie was in the rear footwell of the Audi A4 convertible when Waterson twice moved his electric front seat back in anger, jurors heard. The toddler was squashed ‘at the touch of a button’.
Alfie then suffered a heart attack at the home he shared with his mother, Adrian Hoare, 23, and Waterson in Croydon, south London.
He died in hospital three days later when his life support was switched off.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told the Old Bailey: "He was squashed by the car seat and suffocated.
"This movement was a deliberate action by Waterson, who knew that Alfie was there and was angered by the noise and fuss that a three-and-a-half-year-old was making during the journey."
Waterson and Hoare then lied repeatedly to try to cover up the crime, jurors were told. Waterson also assaulted the driver, Marcus Lamb, 22, while Hoare attacked the other passenger Emilie Williams, 19.
The court heard that last February the group was returning from a shopping trip to Sutton. Waterson was sitting in the front passenger seat and Hoare was in the back with Williams.
Mr Lamb, Williams’s then partner, was driving Waterson’s Audi at his request. Alfie had been put in the rear footwell between his mother’s legs.
Summarising Mr Lamb’s police statement, Mr Atkinson said: ‘During the journey, he heard Alfie screaming and crying and both Hoare and Waterson telling him to shut up. He also heard Hoare slap Alfie.
‘He then heard the sound of the front passenger seat moving backwards, and Alfie shouting “Mummy”. A few minutes later, Williams told Waterson to move his seat forward, which he did.
"Alfie continued to cry and both Waterson and Hoare told him to be quiet. He only became aware of problem with Alfie after the car stopped. Waterson has pulled Alfie out of the car and Hoare had said to him “What have you done?’’’
The court heard that Alfie, who was described as "a smiley boy", was 3ft tall and weighed just 35lb. The seat applied 180lb of pressure.
Mr Atkinson said: ‘Until he got into that vehicle with his mother and those others, CCTV showed that Alfie had been fit and well.
‘It follows that during that car journey something happened to Alfie to compress his chest and abdomen so that he went from and active toddler, to a very seriously ill and brain damaged one.
"The pathologist found that Alfie died as a result of crush asphyxia. It was caused by the front passenger seat of the Audi, Waterson’s seat, being moved back into the rear footwell at a time when, as was known, Alfie was in that footwell."
The two other occupants of the car pleaded with Waterson to move forward because it was obvious he had hurt the boy, the court heard. ‘However, when Alfie made noise again, Waterson deliberately moved his seat back again and kept it in reverse position, squashing Alfie,’ Mr Atkinson said.
‘He again showed signs of breathing problems until he ominously went quiet. Alfie’s mother had a duty to protect him from avoidable harm and yet she failed to do this by inappropriately placing a young child in the rear footwell of a moving car.
‘She failed in any meaningful way to address the consequences of Waterson’s actions.’
Paramedics were called to the couple’s address to find another man performing CPR on the boy. Hoare told them they had got into a taxi and put him in a child seat where he fell asleep.
‘We tried to wake him and found him unresponsive,’ she said. ‘The taxi driver kicked us out and f*****d off.’ Mr Atkinson said: ‘It was to be only the beginning of the lies that she and others were to tell.’
After her arrest, Hoare claimed she repeatedly asked Waterson to stop putting his car seat back. Williams and Waterson also falsely told police they had been travelling in a taxi, the court heard. Eleven days after Alfie’s death Waterson sent text messages to Hoare saying he would take the blame for everything.
Hoare denies manslaughter, child cruelty and common assault on Williams. Waterson denies manslaughter and intimidation of Mr Lamb by assault.
The couple and Williams have pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert the course of justice by making false statements.