A FATHER who murdered his four-year-old son to get revenge on his wife for having an affair was jailed for life yesterday.
Christopher Hawkins, 47, will serve a minimum of 21 years for killing Ryan. He stabbed his son nine times during the attack – two of the blows penetrated the boy's heart.
He was also given a 12-year sentence, to run concurrently, for attempting
to murder his daughter, Donna, 14, during the same attack at his home in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, on 23 September last year.
The judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, told Hawkins: "A more horrific crime it is hard to imagine than savagely and repeatedly to stab your young son who, in his agony, had to try to fend off blows from one of the people he was most entitled to expect love and affection from.
"Although you profess great love for Ryan and mourned his passing, in my judgment … these were crocodile tears."
Leeds Crown Court heard the sheet-metal worker and his wife, Valerie Gee, separated in May last year. He later discovered she had begun an affair with Lee Tinker, a taxi driver whom she met at her uncle's cab firm where she worked, while they were still living together. The day before the attack would have been their 17th wedding anniversary.
The judge told Hawkins: "I'm satisfied that you used Ryan cold-heartedly as a vehicle for avenging yourself on your wife."
He praised Donna for the calm way she had given evidence during the eight-day trial and said it was in "stark contrast" to Hawkins, whom he accused of not having the "moral courage" to face up to what he did, instead blaming "something evil" inside him.
Donna suffered multiple injuries to her face, chest, abdomen, arm and thigh. Two of the wounds penetrated her abdomen with sufficient force to enter her liver and deflate her lung. Hawkins had also "cut a chunk" out of her right arm. The judge said he did not accept the attack was spontaneous, as Hawkins had written a note stating that he and Ryan would die on 16 September – his son's fourth birthday. And, after attacking Donna, he told her he was going to kill Ryan.
As he was led away, Hawkins turned to the public gallery, where Donna and her sister Natalie, 16, were, and said: "I love you, Donna. I love you, Natalie."
In a victim statement read out to the court, Miss Gee told how her world had fallen apart when Ryan died. "I was angry, I was in a daze," she said.
She described her son as a "loving child" and told how he used to hold her hand and show her constant physical affection. "We played, laughed and life was more enjoyable and bearable for having him around," she said.
"The last words I exchanged with Ryan were, 'I love you'. These are the words which will remain with me forever."
Miss Gee said she had a corner of her lounge dedicated to Ryan, pictures of him all around the house and all of his clothes, washed and ironed, "ready to wear as if he was coming back".
She described having to tell Donna her brother had died as she lay seriously injured in hospital. "Donna had been asking where Ryan was. I remember telling her that he was with us," she said. She said Donna had been physically and emotionally scarred for life by the attack.
Speaking about Hawkins in a statement given outside court, Miss Gee said: "I don't feel sorry for him at all. No amount of time in prison will ever equal the pain and suffering we've got to go through every day without Ryan in our lives."
Detective Superintendent Tim Forber, of West Yorkshire Police, said he did not know how anyone could do what Hawkins had done to their own children. He described him as an "extremely dangerous individual".
The full article contains 668 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
