‘My child died alone, scared and in pain’ – Noah’s motherpublished at 12:52 BST
12:52 BST
A victim impact statement from Noah’s mum Masi Sibanda has been read to the court.
Her son, as a baby, was “beautiful to behold,” she says and added that, as a first-time mother, “he made things so easy for me”.
“If he could talk, he would have told me everything would be OK,” she says.
Noah was a confident child, “always kind and full of patience and gentleness”.
His mother says she had a “naive trust in the nursery” and “I will forever feel guilty”.
“Since his death, there has not been a single day I haven’t regretted being alive when he is not,” she adds. “My guilt comes from knowing I handed him over to people who killed him.”
The “excessive” force used on him was like that used in prisons, she said, adding he was treated as a felon, a danger, as if he was in jail.
“I can’t forgive myself and cannot forgive [the] defendants,” she says.
The 14-month-old had suffered so much at the hands of Cookson, she adds, who had failed to keep him alive and safe.
“Guilt lives with me every time I look at my daughter,” she adds.
“Why did [Cookson] hate our son so much… from what I’ve seen she simply does not care, she treated him worse than an animal.
“They are the reason he died… my child died alone, scared and in pain.”