WOMAN JAILED FOR LIFE FOR MURDERING TODDLER SON
Warning: This story contains details that may be upsetting to some readers.A woman was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 18 years after killing her two-year-old son on the day her family court hearing was scheduled to consider her access rights.
Carol Hodgson, aged 40, smothered the child, Daniel Hodgson Green, with a plastic bag at her residence in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, then attempted to end her own life, leaving notes for family members.
Daniel’s father, Stefan Green, delivered an emotional victim impact statement at Teesside Crown Court before the sentencing.
He expressed his longing to have a relationship with his son, which he had been deprived of since Hodgson severed all contact when Daniel was a baby.
Green attended the court expecting a routine family hearing, only to be informed of his son’s death.
In his statement, he said: “I wish I could say more on Daniel’s personality but we only knew him as a baby before Carol disappeared with him and cut off all contact.
“He was my entire world.
The day he was born I truly knew what love was, I knew what it felt like to have a higher purpose, to do everything within my power to give him the best life, one full of love and happiness.” Emergency responders found Hodgson’s mother performing CPR on her at her home, where they also found Daniel unconscious beside her.
Hodgson, who had cut her own neck, requested to be left to die, but she was taken to hospital and survived.
Prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC stated that evidence, including notes left by Hodgson, suggested clear premeditation.
Since Hodgson’s move in 2020 and her failure to share her new address, Green had been unable to see his son.
He highlighted that the killing coincided with the scheduled family court hearing.
Hodgson admitted to the murder and received a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years and four months.
Judge Paul Watson QC characterised the act as “horrifying and truly awful,” clarifying that the intent was not an act of mercy.
While Hodgson’s suicide attempt was noted, the judge emphasized it did not lessen the severity of her crime.
