19 May 2021

Mother of son, 3, crushed to death by car seat to stay in prison for longer

19 May 2021

A mother whose three-year-old son was crushed to death by a car seat will stay behind bars for the rest of her sentence after breaching her licence conditions.

Adrian Hoare from Kent, was jailed for two years and nine months in May 2019 after being found guilty of child cruelty by putting her son Alfie Lamb in harm’s way when placing him into the footwell of an Audi in 2018.

The hairdresser, then 24, was also convicted for assaulting Emilie Williams, who was in the car when Alfie was fatally hurt, and admitted plotting to pervert the course of justice in the wake of her son’s death.

Her boyfriend Stephen Waterson, from Croydon, the adopted son of former Government Minister Nigel Waterson, was jailed for seven and a half years for manslaughter, plotting to pervert the course of justice and intimidating a witness after admitting squashing Alfie by reversing his car seat into him.

Hoare was initially freed from jail early in October 2019 but her licence was revoked just three months later after she “placed herself in a risky situation and had then lost touch with the probation service”, the Parole Board said.

She then remained “unlawfully at large” until she was taken back into custody in May 2020.

Alfie Lamb (Family Handout/PA) (PA Media)

The Parole Board, which considers whether criminals who are recalled to prison can be re-released as part of its work, decided she is not yet suitable to be freed again.

However, she will be able to walk free within months because her sentence expires in July.

A document setting out the Parole Board’s decision, issued on Wednesday, said: “After considering the circumstances of her offending, the progress made while in custody and on licence, and the other evidence presented at the hearings and in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that Ms Hoare was suitable for release.”

At the time of her offending she was described as making “poor decisions and acting impulsively at times”, adding: “She had been in relationships where she had been easily led and controlled or manipulated.

“She had shown some aggression and even violence.

“Ms Hoare had misused illicit drugs and had mixed with like-minded, anti-social people.”

While the Parole Board was told of some progress she had made to address her behaviour, for example taking part in counselling, “there were concerns about how open Ms Hoare might be with her supervising team.

“She was considered to show insufficient self-awareness or insight and to lack adequate self-control.”

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