Mother's baby murder 'disbelief'

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A mother accused of familial homicide has said she "couldn't believe" her former boyfriend had killed her baby son until he admitted it in the dock.

Rebecca Lewis, 21, from Swansea, denies allowing her son's death. When 13-month-old Aaron Gilbert died in May last year, he had 50 separate injuries.

The prosecution at Swansea Crown Court argues she did not protect him from her former partner, Andrew Lloyd.

Lloyd, 23, admits murder, and is to be sentenced later. The case continues.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Rebecca Lewis sobbed as she said she felt ashamed at not taking Aaron to hospital when he suffered a head injury at an earlier incident when he fell from a settee.

She said she did not see any bruising on Aaron's body, legs or arms, and injuries to his face and head had been explained away by Lloyd.

'Screaming'

Ms Lewis described to the jury her relationship with Lloyd, saying he had promised to help to bring up Aaron and at first was "brilliant" with him.

But three weeks into their relationship there had problems with the way he treated her son. She described one night when Aaron, who was teething, would not stop crying. Lloyd had shouted at the baby and told her to take him away.

Aaron Gilbert had 50 separate injuries when he died

She said: "I thought about leaving him but I was afraid of what he might do. He said if I left he would kill me or my ex-boyfriend."

She also told the jury about a time Aaron had been crying on a settee. Lloyd had started flicking Aaron's ears. Miss Lewis said Lloyd laughed when she told him not to do it.

She then described two occasions when Lloyd had picked Aaron up and thrown him onto a bed and a settee. She said Aaron had been screaming but he did not appear to have any injuries.

She also said she had been out one night and had left the baby with Lloyd. When she came back, Aaron had what appeared to her to be a love bite on his cheek. Lloyd told her Aaron had knocked his face on the cot.

The court has already heard that on the day before Aaron died, Ms Lewis had left Aaron with Lloyd for around 15 minutes while she went to the shops.

Andrew Lloyd changed his plea after hearing medical evidence

In an interview, she had said: "When I left, Aaron was in the kitchen playing on the floor with a big yellow car. I said mummy would be back, I am going to get you some sweets.

"When I got back Aaron was grey and he was not breathing. I went hysterical."

The court has heard Lloyd was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Aaron was taken to Singleton Hospital, Swansea, and then transferred to the University of Wales hospital, Cardiff, where he died of brain damage.

Ms Lewis said she had been shocked to see the state of her son's body when a nurse had undressed him.

When asked by Paul Thomas, defending, if it had ever crossed her mind what had happened was done by Lloyd, she replied: "No".

She was then asked when she had accepted that Lloyd had killed Aaron.

Visibly upset, she said it was when he pleaded guilty in court. She said: "I couldn't believe he'd killed my son."

Lloyd, of Townhill, Swansea, had initially denied murder but changed his plea to guilty after hearing medical evidence about Aaron's injuries.

The prosecution is expected to cross-examine Ms Lewis on Thursday.