Frankie Smith, the mother of murdered toddler Star Hobson, has had her eight-year prison sentence for causing or allowing her daughter’s death increased to 12 years at the Court of Appeal. Frankie Smith, 20, was jailed at Bradford Crown Court in December last year for her role in the death of her 16-month-old daughter, who was killed by Smith’s former partner Savannah Brockhill.
Smith’s sentence had been referred to the court by the Attorney General’s Office under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme, and senior judges considered whether to increase it at a hearing on Tuesday. Star died after she was taken to hospital in September 2020, having suffered “utterly catastrophic” and “unsurvivable” injuries at Brockhill’s hands.
Brockhill, 28, a bouncer and security guard, was found guilty of Star’s murder, while Smith was found guilty of causing or allowing her death following a trial at Bradford Crown Court. During the trial, jurors heard Smith’s family and friends had growing fears about bruising they saw on the little girl in the months before she died and made a series of complaints to social services.
