Maxine Robinson (born 1968) is an English woman who murdered all three of her children between 1989 and 1993. Convicted of murdering two of the children in 1995, Robinson unsuccessfully appealed against her convictions, claiming their deaths had been natural. In 2004, her case and many other cases of multiple cot death came up for review as potentially unsafe. However, she admitted killing them before her case could be reviewed and further revealed that she had, in 1989, murdered her first-born child, whose death until then had been considered a

SIDS Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and ...

. Her trial judge observed that Robinson's case was a "timely" reminder that "not all mothers in prison for killing their children are the victims of

miscarriages of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent p ...

Murders

In 1989, Robinson's nine-month-old daughter, Victoria, died suddenly at the family home in Pelton, near

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street () is a market town in County Durham, England. It is located around north of Durham and is close to Newcastle. The town holds markets on Saturdays. In 2021, the town had a population of 23,555. The town's history is ancient; ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. The death was not considered suspicious at the time and was judged to be a

cot death Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), sometimes known as cot death or crib death, is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and ...

. In 1993, both Robinson's 19-month-old daughter, Christine, and five-month-old son, Anthony, also died suddenly. Suspicion fell on Robinson because she had not employed the resuscitation training she received after Victoria's death. Robinson denied any wrongdoing and claimed the children also suffered cot death. Some experts called by the defense at her trial agreed with her claims that the deaths were natural, though a

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

testified that the deaths were consistent with

suffocation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are m ...

. Robinson was convicted of their murders at trial in 1995 by a narrow majority verdict. She appealed against the verdict, but her conviction was upheld.

Confessions

Robinson's conviction had in part been based upon the evidence of paediatrician

Roy Meadow Sir Samuel Roy Meadow (born 9 June 1933) is a British retired paediatrician who facilitated several wrongful convictions of mothers for murdering their babies. He was awarded the Donald Paterson prize of the British Paediatric Association in 1 ...

, who had devised a statistical theory that said that more than one unexplained child death in a family was suspicious, and more than two indicated murder. Meadow's work was subsequently discredited and several convictions based upon his evidence were quashed, such as in the Angela Cannings,

Trupti Patel Trupti Patel is a qualified British pharmacist from Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, who was acquitted in 2003 of murdering three of her children, Amar (5 September 1997 – 10 December 1997), Jamie (21 June 1999 – 6 July 1999), and Mia ...

and

Sally Clark Sally Clark (née Lockyer, 15 August 1964 – 15 March 2007) was an English solicitor who, in November 1999, became the victim of a miscarriage of justice when she was found guilty of the murder of her two infant sons. Clark's first son died in ...

cases. In January 2004, the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

ordered Robinson's conviction, along with many others based on Meadow's evidence, to be reviewed as potentially unsafe. Before a review could occur, however, Robinson told a prison 'listener' (a prisoner trained by

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

to provide support to other prisoners) at

HM Prison Durham HM Prison Durham is a Georgian era reception Prison security categories in the United Kingdom, Category B men's prison, located in the Elvet area of Durham, England, Durham in County Durham, England. Built in 1819, the prison is operated by Hi ...

that she had killed all three of her children, revealing that they had been smothered in their sleep. She was charged with Victoria's murder in April 2004. Although advised by her defence to plead guilty to

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

with

diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental funct ...

, Robinson instead pleaded guilty to murder, saying she had smothered the baby with a deflated balloon. She said she had killed Victoria as she had been unable to cope with her, was depressed at the time and was criticised by her mother. Robinson was already serving a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...

for the murder of her two younger children when she pleaded guilty to murdering the oldest. The judge increased her minimum term by three years, remarking that the case was a "timely" reminder that "not all mothers in prison for killing their children are the victims of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Maxine 1966 births 1989 murders in the United Kingdom 1993 murders in the United Kingdom British female serial killers Chester-le-Street English female criminals Filicides in England Infanticide Child murder in the United Kingdom Living people People from Chester-le-Street Violence against children in England

Murders

Confessions

See also

References