Double child killer to be sentenced for previous murder

A mother already serving life for killing two of her babies was due to be sentenced today for murdering her first-born child 15 years ago.

Maxine Robinson, 35, confessed at high-security Durham Prison in Britain that she smothered nine-month-old Victoria Cope in June 1989 with a deflated balloon.

Robinson, formerly of Pelton, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, was jailed for the 1993 murder of Anthony, aged five months, and Christine, 19 months, both from her second marriage.

She smothered them at the family home as they slept.

At Newcastle Crown Court in April Robinson formally admitted murdering Victoria. The case had been treated as a cot death.

The guilty plea was despite advice from her defence team that she could claim diminished responsibility.

At the hearing in April, Franz Muller QC, defending, said: “Maxine Robinson is aware that such a defence is available to her … but she wishes to be punished in the extreme for what she has done.”

He said she that realised her admission could lead to a further 15 years in prison.