Mother of Star Hobson does not deserve sympathy

pumpkinspice87 · 2023-08-13T06:14:04+00:00

[[https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12385875/amp/Family-murdered-Star-Hobson-looking-forward-welcoming-home-mother-allowed-toddler-die-hands-girlfriend-say-victim-tragedy.html https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12385875/amp/Family-murdered-Star-Hobson-looking-forward-welcoming-home-mother-allowed-toddler-die-hands-girlfriend-say-victim-tragedy.html]] Am I being unreasonable to be absolutely sickened by this article? I get that this man is traumatised by what happened to his family, but how could anyone be so blinded as to see Star's mother as some sort of innocent victim? She was a cruel and neglectful mother who was too infatuated with her new partner to protect her baby daughter. Yes, I know she has a low IQ and learning difficulties. However, to use this as a constant excuse is an absolute insult to the many, many people in this country with learning difficulties (many of whom are parents) who would never, ever think it is acceptable to stand by and watch whilst their child is horrifically abused.

Beezknees · 13/08/2023 07:18

It's not a popular opinion but I agree with you. I do not have sympathy for any mother who allows her child to be hurt, under any circumstances.

ADHDDDDDDDBOOM · 13/08/2023 07:23

Hang on, where abouts does it say she was an innocent victim?

It doesn't.

It says she is a victim, and I strongly suspect she is.

That doesn't make her any less neglectful and guilty.

AndIKnewYouMeantIt · 13/08/2023 07:27

It seems more like this bloke wants to be in the paper than anything else.

ohfook · 13/08/2023 07:27

I think very few of us have been in the position of this poor man to have a child, who at one point he was a cater for, he loved dearly brutally murdered and a grandchild whom he presumably also loved standing by and allowing it to happen. I can't judge how he feels because I can't begin to imagine the pain he must be in. Very few people are in a position to judge him I would say.

Also he will know first hand the extent of star's mother's learning difficulties and the nature of her relationship with her partner- ie how abusive it was whereas the rest of us can only hazard a guess.

I've read the article and it seems to me like an honest portrayal of a family torn apart by grief but the dm have imo gone for a deliberately inflammatory headline.

Original poster

pumpkinspice87 · 13/08/2023 07:33

ohfook · 13/08/2023 07:27

I think very few of us have been in the position of this poor man to have a child, who at one point he was a cater for, he loved dearly brutally murdered and a grandchild whom he presumably also loved standing by and allowing it to happen. I can't judge how he feels because I can't begin to imagine the pain he must be in. Very few people are in a position to judge him I would say.

Also he will know first hand the extent of star's mother's learning difficulties and the nature of her relationship with her partner- ie how abusive it was whereas the rest of us can only hazard a guess.

I've read the article and it seems to me like an honest portrayal of a family torn apart by grief but the dm have imo gone for a deliberately inflammatory headline.

Yes, you are absolutely right. He would of course know more about the situation than anyone reading the article. I just find the case really distressing and it angers me to think what that poor child was put through.

OP posts:

panko · 13/08/2023 07:34

ohfook · 13/08/2023 07:27

I think very few of us have been in the position of this poor man to have a child, who at one point he was a cater for, he loved dearly brutally murdered and a grandchild whom he presumably also loved standing by and allowing it to happen. I can't judge how he feels because I can't begin to imagine the pain he must be in. Very few people are in a position to judge him I would say.

Also he will know first hand the extent of star's mother's learning difficulties and the nature of her relationship with her partner- ie how abusive it was whereas the rest of us can only hazard a guess.

I've read the article and it seems to me like an honest portrayal of a family torn apart by grief but the dm have imo gone for a deliberately inflammatory headline.

I agree. It's rhe mail stirring

Simplepink · 13/08/2023 07:40

Ill judged to do an interview with The Mail perhaps but I would say he is a good person who’s life and family was ripped apart at the hands of a monster.

PrinceHaz · 13/08/2023 07:43

ohfook · 13/08/2023 07:27

I think very few of us have been in the position of this poor man to have a child, who at one point he was a cater for, he loved dearly brutally murdered and a grandchild whom he presumably also loved standing by and allowing it to happen. I can't judge how he feels because I can't begin to imagine the pain he must be in. Very few people are in a position to judge him I would say.

Also he will know first hand the extent of star's mother's learning difficulties and the nature of her relationship with her partner- ie how abusive it was whereas the rest of us can only hazard a guess.

I've read the article and it seems to me like an honest portrayal of a family torn apart by grief but the dm have imo gone for a deliberately inflammatory headline.

Agree

Username2101 · 13/08/2023 07:54

I live in Keighley where this happened and I don’t understand how she would ever be able to come back. She would be lynched.

itsgettingweird · 13/08/2023 08:01

I thought that article was actually quite measured.

He points out what went on. That they tried and failed as a wider family to contact SS 5 times but were accused of making malicious reports.

That he cared for the child.

Frankies dad ended his own life over it.

He points out the wider family is fractured because tragedy's like this make people form all sorts of opinions and it's not easy.

I didn't feel for one minute he was trying to sell the sad face pity party.

But he is correct. Frankie was a victim in a way. That doesn't excuse what she did not does it make her innocent.

But she has a low IQ, she was in an abusive relationship and the services who should have intervened failed to in 5 occasions.

Nothing about is cases is black and white.

But one things for sure they are a bloody tradegy and reading those stories of what those children went through always raises tears in me. It's beyond imaginable.

UpAndAwayyy · 13/08/2023 08:05

"I live in Keighley where this happened and I don’t understand how she would ever be able to come back. She would be lynched."

Dunno, Mark Feely hasn't been done in yet has he?

JanieEyre · 13/08/2023 08:07

I do hate the attitude "I know some people with learning difficulties who wouldn't do this therefore it's not an excuse". Newsflash, learning difficulties differ widely and affect different people in different ways.

Busubaba · 13/08/2023 08:08

My own opinion is that due to Frankie's low IQ and how easily she let her daughter be abused and murdered, she should not be allowed to keep another child or better still be compulsory sterilised.

This wasn't a one off attack on Star, it was sustained abuse and Frankie knew the whole time.

Being in thrall and or fear of her partner may be the excuse presented by her legal team but she had the loving support of many family members to help her get away but chose to stay and allow her daughter to be used as a punch bag.

She must never be responsible for another child again.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 13/08/2023 08:10

Just means the Mail's been lurking around like that smell from the drains you get when a particularly nasty glob of food isn't scraped off before putting plates in the sink. They've doorstepped him or pretended to be his friend again.

SpringIntoChaos · 13/08/2023 08:12

Oh give over OP! This man's life has been shattered! He was one of the people who reported his granddaughter to SS so he's not blind to her part in this awful tragedy. He's not asking for 'sympathy' for her is he? He understands full well what she did, but he also acknowledges that there was coercion and control involved due to her low IQ and obsession with her partner. Her IQ of 70 indicates she has significant difficulties (in what capacity we don't know of course, but there would be extremely low intellectual functioning, that her grandad would of course understand).

However terrible this is (and it is terrible!!) it does sound as if this man just wants to find some sort of peace.

I'd like to think that SS will learn from these horrific events. But they don't seem to...ever....that's the real tragedy 💔

Beamur · 13/08/2023 08:12

Social services will be involved. They can have orders made that require any further children to be surrendered at birth (not sure of the correct terminology) so I think that the chances of this repeating are minute.

Cloudsandrainnotsunandsand · 13/08/2023 08:13

I hope she had been sterilised...

Busubaba · 13/08/2023 08:14

@NeverDropYourMooncup - grandad sells his story for money to the Daily Mail. That's why the story is in the news again.

Missingmyusername · 13/08/2023 08:17

Username2101 · 13/08/2023 07:54

I live in Keighley where this happened and I don’t understand how she would ever be able to come back. She would be lynched.

Perhaps they should both be released to that area….

Beezknees · 13/08/2023 08:18

Honestly if somebody is that vulnerable with significant learning difficulties then they shouldn't be solely responsible for a child. She needed massive support.

itsgettingweird · 13/08/2023 08:18

Busubaba · 13/08/2023 08:14

@NeverDropYourMooncup - grandad sells his story for money to the Daily Mail. That's why the story is in the news again.

We don't know that.

But the article points out the massive complexities in a case like this and highlights that despite even family reporting their own flesh and blood to SS children aren't protected.

You aren't blind to what your relations are doing if as a family you make 5 separate reports.

You aren't blind if you make a public posting FB calling out the abuse. Fwiw I don't like that kind of behaviour but I also don't know what I'd do if no one else who could intervene was listening.

Frankie has a low IQ. She needed protecting as much as Star.

Both were failed but in this case Frankie also failed star and rightly is being punished for it.

Missingmyusername · 13/08/2023 08:18

The bruising on that poor child’s face- can you imagine the suffering she endured, the pain.

Sickening.

AuntieJune · 13/08/2023 08:22

She's been convicted and punished, that's it.

What are you going to do, make a law that families have to be horrible to people after a conviction? A bit more Christian forgiveness wouldn't hurt. (I'm not Christian but think it's a good principle).

What do you think should happen to her? I imagine she'll suffer throughout her life knowing what happened and having to live with it.

MeridianB · 13/08/2023 08:31

He was very dignified at the time of the trials.

I don’t think this is about absolving Star’s mother. I read this as a father who wants to protect a vulnerable daughter from spiralling into more tragedy after prison.

It’s possible she has been abused and used drugs in prison and would come out and fall in with more bad people after.

Busubaba · 13/08/2023 08:35

MeridianB · 13/08/2023 08:31

He was very dignified at the time of the trials.

I don’t think this is about absolving Star’s mother. I read this as a father who wants to protect a vulnerable daughter from spiralling into more tragedy after prison.

It’s possible she has been abused and used drugs in prison and would come out and fall in with more bad people after.

He's the grandfather. Frankie's own father committed suicide saying he wanted to look after Star in heaven.