Heavily-pregnant Leeds mum who injured own son is jailed for forcing his 12-year-old brother to confess to police

The woman got into an argument with her partner at home in which she threw a plate which smashed, with the porcelain shards cutting the face of their nine-year-old standing nearby.

He needed hospital treatment after suffering a 4cm laceration across the bridge of his nose and another 2.5cm cut to his forehead.

The police became involved, but the couple said the boys had been playing in the garden of their home, and the elder brother had struck the younger in the face with a shovel.

Suspicions were aroused when shards of porcelain were cleared from his cuts. The 12-year-old was then interviewed by police under caution following the incident in April 2020.

It was only after police were called to another domestic argument at the property weeks later when, kin his anger, the stepdad told them it was a lie, and the mother finally confessed.

At Leeds Crown Court this week, Judge Ray Singh addressed the couple, who are not being named to protect the identity of the children, and said: “Between you, you decided to spin a web of lies in order to save your own skin. There was no concern whatsoever for your children.

"You were willing to let your son take the blame for those injuries. This was a serious criminal offence.”

Both defendants admitted intending to pervert the course of justice.

The court was told that the stepdad had previous, including ABH on the woman that postdates the plate incident.

She has no previous convictions, but cautions for shoplifting and obstructing a police officer.

Representing the stepdad, Michael Walsh said the pair had now separated and said: “It was not some design on his part to protect himself. It was an isolated incident.”

Mitigating for the mother, who is due to give birth to her fifth child next week, Nathan Davis said: “I have to accept that the level of harm is high. She accepts she caused the injury and gave a false statement to police. She had a fear of losing her children and made an irrational decision.”

But Judge Singh told Holroyd: “I can’t dovetail that you were worried about your children being put into care. I’m afraid it makes no sense to me. What does make sense was the cover up for what may have been an accident.

"The court may never know the full truth of how he sustained those injuries. What we do is that he was nine-years-old. You threw your other son under the bus. He was either told by one or both of you to tell a complete falsehood to the police.

"You allowed your 12-year-old to be interviewed under caution. He had been primed by one or both of you to tell a deliberate lie to police accept responsibility.

"This type of conduct strikes at the heart of the administration of justice. It was despicable behaviour and only immediate custody will suffice.”

The mother was jailed for 14 days, while the stepdad was jailed for four months because of his previous record.