A man crushed a three-year-old boy to death with his car seat before assaulting his passenger then fleeing the scene and leaving him to die, a court heard.
Adrian Hoare, 23, allegedly placed her son Alfie Lamb in the back footwell of the car before her boyfriend Stephen Waterson, 25, ‘deliberately rammed his seat back against him’.
Alfie died three days after suffering a cardiac arrest at the home he shared with the couple in Croydon, south London.
The Old Bailey heard today how Waterson assaulted the driver of the car before fleeing the scene and leaving three-year-old Alfie to die.
The court previously heard how Alfie was told to be quiet when he screamed out ‘mummy’ as he was crushed by around 81kg of pressure.
Marcus Richardson – also known as Marcus Lamb – told jurors that Waterson assaulted him two weeks later because he had given police the number plate of the car.
Mr Richardson told the court today that Waterson ‘ran’ from the scene, adding: ‘[He] said he could not deal with it all so left me to deal with the ambulance.’
Alfie Lamb (pictured with his mother Adrian Hoare) died after he was crushed to death by Hoare’s boyfriend Steven Waterson, the Old Bailey has heard
Marcus Richardson (left outside court today), told jurors that Steven Waterson (right) assaulted him because he had given police the number plate of the car
Waterson and Hoare lied repeatedly after the event and assaulted the two other passengers, in the Audi A4, in a bid to cover up their crime, the Old Bailey has heard.
Alfie was told to be quiet when he screamed out ‘mummy’ as he was crushed by around 81kg of pressure
Waterson was arrested and questioned about Alfie’s death on March 17.
Hoare’s defence barrister, Tana Adkin asked Mr Richardson if he blamed Waterson for Alfie’s death when questioned by police.
He replied: ‘No I didn’t blame anyone. It was the truth.’
Hoare also slapped fellow passenger Emilie Williams across the face two weeks after Alfie’s death, it is claimed.
Jurors heard how paramedics arrived in Croydon, where the group had got out the car to discover Alfie was unconscious.
They found Mr Richardson giving Alfie CPR while Waterson was nowhere to be seen.
Ms Adkin asked whether Waterson had taken Emilie’s child away to shield her from the scene.
The court has heard how Marcus Lamb was driving, Stephen Waterson was sitting in the front passenger seat, and Adrian Hoare was in the back with Emilie Williams. Ms Williams’ daughter was sitting in the footwell in front of her, while Alfie was sitting in the footwell in front of Hoare, and behind Waterson
The Audi convertible in which three-year-old Alfie Lamb is alleged to have been crushed, as he sat in the rear footwell behind the front passenger seat
Ms Adkin said: ‘Steven said he took the child up to the flat. Is that right?’
‘No,’ he replied.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson has told the court Alfie had been ‘fit and well’ until he got in the Audi on 1 February last year
‘It follows that during that car journey something happened to Alfie to compress his chest and abdomen so that he went from an active toddler, to a very seriously ill and brain damaged one.
‘The pathologist found that Alfie had died as a result of crush asphyxia.
‘He was squashed by the car seat and suffocated.
‘This movement was a deliberate action by Waterson who was angered by the noise and fuss that a three and a half year old was making during the journey.’
Marcus Richardson (left) was driving the vehicle while Emilie Williams was sitting in the back seat
Alfie’s mother, Adrian Hoare, 23, who was in the seat behind her son, is charged with manslaughter alongside Waterson
Stephen Waterson, 25, who is accused of ramming his car seat into Alfie Lamb (right)
Hoare and Waterson, from Croydon, south London, both deny manslaughter.
Hoare further denies charges of child cruelty for placing Alfie in the footwell and common assault on Emilie Williams on February 14.
Waterson further denies intimidating Marcus Lamb, also known as Marcus Richardson, on 15 February.
But Hoare and Waterson, have admitted perverting the course by submitting false statements to police.
The trial continues.
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