A mother who left a chilling message to stop him from having more contact with his father before her two-year-old son was killed has been jailed.
Carol Hodgson, 40, used a plastic bag to suffocate her son Daniel Hodgson Green at their home in Upper Garth Gardens, Guisborough, North Yorkshire and then tried to kill herself.
Alistair MacDonald QC, prosecutor, said the notes she left for her mother and other family members suggested she planned the murder.
Her mother found a note that read, “Mom, I’m sorry. If you don’t want to see this, just call the police! I’m gone, I’m so sorry. I love you.’
Carol Hodgson, 40, used a plastic bag to suffocate her son Daniel Hodgson Green at their home in Upper Garth Gardens, Guisborough, North Yorkshire and then tried to kill herself
Hodgson was found with two wounds on her neck and a bloody kitchen knife lying nearby. Other notes were recovered, in which she said the only way she could protect Daniel was to “take him with her.”
The boy’s heartbroken father, Stefan Green, read a victim statement ahead of his former partner’s sentencing at Teesside Crown Court, expressing how much he wanted to be a part of his son’s life but had cut off all contact with Hodgson when Daniel was just a baby.
Mr Green had visited the same courthouses on February 2 of this year, expecting there would be a family court hearing to clarify the background to the dispute, only to learn his son had been killed.
In his moving statement, Mr Green told the judge: “I wish I could say more about Daniel’s personality but we only knew him as a baby before Carol disappeared with him and severed all contact.
The boy’s heartbroken father, Stefan Green, read a victim statement ahead of his former partner’s sentencing at Teesside Crown Court, expressing how much he wanted to be a part of his son’s life but that Hodgson had cut off all contact, when Daniel (pictured) was a kid baby
Her mother found a note that read, “Mom, I’m sorry. If you don’t want to see this, just call the police! I’m gone, I’m so sorry. I love you’
“He was my whole world, the day he was born I really knew what love was, I knew what it felt like to have a higher purpose, to do everything in my power to give him that.” best life to give, one full of love and happiness.’
He added: “He was taken before he could know who he was, what he wanted to do with his life and how much he meant to so many people.”
Emergency services arrived at Hodgson’s home to find her mother in her bedroom performing CPR on her. A paramedic then noticed Daniel lying lifeless next to his mother.
Desperate attempts were made to save him at the scene and in the hospital, but these were in vain.
Hodgson had lacerated her own neck and asked to be left to die, but she was taken to the hospital and survived.
Alistair MacDonald QC, prosecutor, said the notes she left for her mother and other family members suggested she planned the murder.
He said Mr Green had been cut off from contact since early 2020, when Hodgson moved, but did not tell him her new address.
Mr Green requested to have more access to his son and to prevent them from changing his surname, moving house or taking him on holiday without notifying him.
Mr MacDonald said: “It is no coincidence that she carried out the murder on the very morning that the Family Court was due to hold a fact finding hearing.”
Richard Wright QC, defending, said it was accepted by others that Hodgson loved her son and had shown genuine remorse.
He added: “The only explanation was that she had developed a completely irrational and objectively unjustifiable but sincere belief that she was compelled to act as she did.”
Heartbroken Mr Green spoke at Teesside Crown Court today to say of Daniel: “He was my whole world, the day he was born I really knew what love was, I knew what it was like felt to have a higher purpose, to do anything in my power to give him the best life, one full of love and happiness.
Judge Paul Watson QC sentenced her to life imprisonment with a minimum sentence of 18 years and four months, saying the crime was compounded by Daniel’s vulnerability, the abuse of trust and willful intent but mitigated by her guilty plea to the murder.
He said: “It was not an act of mercy.
“It was an appalling and truly horrific crime.
“The fact that you actually intended to take your own life as well, which I take to be true, offers no mitigation for killing Daniel.”
Daniel’s father also attended the sentencing court and read a statement on the victim’s emotional impact. He said: “He was my whole world. I always called him my little star. I miss hearing him laugh and holding him in my arms.
“The shocking nature of the loss made things worse. I now suffer from PTSD and night terrors. I couldn’t work and I’ve been ill since it all happened. My mother and father are broken to the core. Friends of the family were also hit hard.
“Some days I think maybe it would be easier if I wasn’t here anymore. I never saw his first steps or heard his first words, all of that was stolen from me.’
Outside the court, Mr Green said: “We never had to connect with my son, never saw his first steps, heard his first words and now because of the actions of an evil person, a person who should have been one of the two People with whom he should have felt safest have lost a lifetime of firsts.’
Detective Inspector Matt Hollingsworth, Senior Investigating Officer for the Cleveland Police Homicide and Major Inquiry Team, said: “Today our thoughts are with Daniel’s father Stefan and his parents – Daniel’s grandparents – and all of their family and friends.
“Stefan spoke movingly about his love for his son and rightly feels deprived of the opportunity to share his life with Daniel.
“He has shown dignity throughout this ordeal and today his only thought was to speak on Daniel’s behalf.
“Stefan paid tribute to Daniel’s tragically short life – taken so cruelly by the mother who should have nurtured and protected him. It’s almost incomprehensible that Carol picked the date well in advance and lied to the family to buy herself some time. Daniel woke up quite normally that day and went about his normal routine, unaware that his mum was going to kill him that way very soon.
“Hodgson pleaded guilty to the murder of Daniel but she could not be held accountable for admitting to police how she took his life. Daniel’s family had to hear these details in court.
“I would like to join Stefan in thanking the paramedics and police on site who went out of their way to help Daniel. This investigation has taken a toll on the entire team and I would like to thank them for their continued dedication and professionalism in achieving today’s outcome.
“We hope that today’s verdict, by bringing some justice to Daniel, will allow those who love this little boy to begin their grieving process.”
