Dover mum jailed for child cruelty stabbed man to death at Camber Sands Pontins when she was 15
A cruel mum jailed with her former boyfriend after their child suffered multiple broken bones is a convicted killer, KentOnline[1] can reveal. Nicole Tobin was just 15 when she was locked up for two years for plunging a knife into the heart of a man at a Pontins holiday camp in December 2002.
She stabbed 34-year-old Andrew Reed as he fought with her brother after raising concerns about the amount of alcohol she had been drinking. A court was told she "snapped" and launched the attack at the Camber Sands site near Rye, before leaving the knife in Mr Reed's chest as she ran to get help.
Tobin later admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was sentenced in January 2004.
Now, 20 years later, both she and her partner Alex Arulselvan - once described by nursery school staff as "the perfect family" - are behind bars for multiple acts of cruelty which left their child suffering what a judge described as "many days of distress". Jurors were not made aware of Tobin's alarming past - which includes other violent offences - during the Dover[2] couple's trial at Canterbury Crown Court in October.
But they did hear horrific details of the injuries sustained by the youngster and how they may have been inflicted. The child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was said to have been the victim of "at least" six episodes of violence on "at least" three separate occasions while in the parents' care.
Fractures were inflicted to the left collarbone, ribs on both sides, two spine vertebrae, right thighbone, right wrist and the right foot big toe.
Medical experts later concluded "excessive force" consistent with gripping, twisting, shaking, snapping and squeezing had been used, and the child would have "screamed" in pain and expressed discomfort. Some were described as "missed" fractures, whereby no medical help or treatment from a GP or hospital had been sought at the time they were sustained over a 12-week period. Tobin, 36, and Arulselvan, 34, denied responsibility but were each found guilty of three charges of causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child.
Having been released on bail following the verdicts in October, they returned to the same court on December 22 to hear Judge Simon Taylor KC conclude their actions had had potentially lifelong consequences.
Jailing both Tobin, of Herbert Street, and Arulselvan, of Squires Way, for six-and-a-half years each, he said: "There is ample evidence from the nature of the injuries sustained and the frequency of infliction for me to find that there would have been a serious psychological effect. "This child's life chances and quality of life are severely inhibited."
But the judge added that although Tobin's manslaughter conviction was an aggravating factor, he did not regard it with "significance" due to its age.
The court heard that Tobin, a heavy cannabis user with a diagnosed emotionally unstable personality disorder, still maintains she did not harm her child, and on being led from the dock to the court cells, she proclaimed: "We're innocent by the way." Her previous convictions since 2009 include two for battery, one for assaulting an emergency worker and one for threatening behaviour towards a social worker.
Arulselvan also has two previous convictions for battery and one for robbery. Sentencing had been adjourned so the judge could be provided with up-to-date reports on the child's current welfare but they were not read publicly during the sentencing hearing. The court heard Tobin herself had long-term mental health issues and had been sectioned for six weeks at the age of just 13.
Of her continuing denials, her barrister, Ben Irwin, said: "Her position remains the same. She doesn't accept for a minute she caused any harm and maintains she did not know harm was being caused." Nicholas Robinson, defending Arulselvan, said court proceedings had "taken an enormous toll" on his client's life.
At their trial, prosecutor Christopher May said the couple had not given an "adequate or credible" explanation for the injuries, and both maintained they had neither inflicted physical harm nor witnessed the other being violent. But Mr May said accident, bone disorder and any underlying health condition had all been ruled out by doctors as possibilities. He told the jury that not only were Tobin and Arulselvan responsible but also "must have been aware of the risk of harm and did not take appropriate steps to protect" their child.
It was the discovery by staff at Dover's Buckland Hospital of a "complicated" wrist fracture that led to a skeletal survey being carried out at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford and the catalogue of older injuries being revealed.
Forensic pathologist Dr Nathaniel Cary told the court that the femur, even in a child, was a "substantial" bone requiring "severe forces" to break through direct impact or a "gripping, snapping, twisting" action. He said the toe injury may have been caused by "gripping from a mechanical object", and that a "wholly inappropriate" amount of force "beyond rough handling" had resulted in the wrist fracture. Dr Cary added that the lower spine injury could have been caused by excessive bending of the body or forceful "ramming" on sitting the child down.
The court also heard that the collarbone fracture may have resulted from excessive squeezing or hard impact, and that all five rib fractures were possibly sustained in one violent episode. Tobin and Arulselvan said they had taken the youngster to Buckland Hospital after noticing a lump and bruising to the forearm. They had previously raised concerns about weight issues but the child was otherwise described by a paediatrician as "very well and happy".
A nursery school manager also told police both parents were "active" in childcare and "presented as the perfect family". However, neighbours reported hearing loud arguments, the sound of smashing and crying, as well as a woman shouting. Police had also been called on one occasion to their home.
After their arrests, hair samples from Tobin and Arulselvan revealed traces of cannabis, with Tobin's test result consistent with her being a regular user.
The court heard she was also known to share a relative's medication prescribed for bipolar. She and Arulselvan were interviewed by police on three occasions before being charged in March 2021. Tobin was said to have started crying, saying she had not done anything wrong and wanted to take a lie detector test.
The jury was told as part of the prosecution case that it was "highly significant" the victim had not suffered any injuries or fractures since leaving the parents' care. "The injuries were caused by the parents, whether individually or jointly. Each had frequent contact.
Each must have been aware of the risk," said Mr May. "Yet they did not act to protect the child, as would be expected from a parent." Furthermore, continued the prosecutor, the child's distressful reaction to being seriously hurt would have been apparent to both parents, whoever had inflicted the injury.
"Both parents in those circumstances would have had an obligation in caring for their child to seek prompt medical attention," added Mr May. Tobin described the youngster to police as "happy and chirpy" and said Arulselvan was "the best dad in the world".
Giving evidence at trial, she maintained she had not seen any signs of discomfort and was "quite angry" with herself for not realising the pain her child would have been in. She told the jury she immediately sought medical help when she spotted the arm lump and bruise.
"I would never hurt my child, ever. I would never let a person hurt my child and, if I knew someone was hurting my child, I would go to heaven and earth to stop it," Tobin maintained. "I would never lay a finger on my child.
I never hid anything. If I thought Alex had caused any injury, I would hand him in to police. "I would not let anyone injure a child, let alone my own."
Arulselvan also denied assaulting his child or covering up for Tobin, despite admitting to the jury there were times when the mum would "go crazy". But he maintained that although they were "not compatible" as a couple, they were "really good, careful parents". Arulselvan accepted he had noticed a swelling to the child's thigh and a circular mark on the toe, but added he never thought any crying had "anything to do with bones".
"The first time we knew something was wrong with the wrist, we were both like 'we need to get to hospital'," he told the jury. "If I had caused that injury I wouldn't have agreed to go to hospital." Tobin and Arulselvan had also denied three charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm and were formally acquitted by the jury on the judge's direction.
As they left the courtroom together back in October, a crying Tobin could be heard saying "You've ruined our life. I hope you feel proud." Such an offence of causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child now carries a maximum jail term of 14 years, having been increased from 10 years under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
However, the couple had to be sentenced according to the law when the fractures were inflicted.
Having originally imposed a ban on identifying the victim, Judge Taylor agreed at the sentencing hearing following an application by KentOnline and supported by the Crown Prosecution Service and Kent Police that the order should be varied to allow the relationship between the defendants and the child to be reported.
He also commended Det Con Julia Pettman for the "highly diligent and effective manner" in which she had investigated the case.
References
- ^ KentOnline (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ Dover (www.kentonline.co.uk)