SAVANNAH Brockhill has been found guilty of murdering 16-month-old Star Hobson.

Star died on September 22, 2020, from catastrophic abdominal injuries caused by a blow or blows to her abdomen delivered with a severe degree of force.

After more than 12 hours of deliberation, a jury found her guilty, and she now await sentencing. But who is Savannah Brockhill?

Brockhill is 28, and has previously lived in Morecambe, Esholt, and most recently Keighley.

She left school aged 10 teaching herself from then on and beginning work in her late teens.

She worked as a carer before moving into security following the tragic passing of her mother, training in close protection and dog handling, and working on the doors at The Sun pub in Bradford city centre and at a recycling plant in New Rossington near Doncaster.

A passionate amateur boxer, Brockhill boxed since her childhood, having one amateur fight aged 21 and a goal of fighting at the Olympics. However, injury put an end to that dream, but she continued to box recreationally.

She told the court of her boxing pedigree, bragging about how she had “dropped women and men”, that she could “move a 50kg bag”; adding “if I’d punched Star with my full strength she’d have ended up dead”. A chilling comment at the time, even more in hindsight.

Brockhill identifies as bisexual. She met Frankie Smith in October or November 2019 at The Sun pub where she was working; they were flirting that night and became an item a couple of weeks later.

The relationship was described as “obsessive” by Smith’s family. Smith herself told court that from the beginning she was a victim of domestic violence, coercion and control.

Images of bruises to Smith were seen in court, caused by assaults from Brockhill. Scores of messages and calls between the pair, Brockhill demanding to know Smith’s location and what she was doing at all times.

A terrifying video was put on Smith’s Snapchat account by Brockhill in which she called herself the “number one psycho” and threatened to break the kneecaps of anyone who even dared speak to Smith.

The coercion and control continued, limiting Smith and Star’s contact with family, ordering Smith to harshly discipline Star, and eventually duping the very unintelligent Smith into believing how bruises to Star were caused.

The first sign we got this abuse was being transferred to Star came in June, when a bruise appeared on her cheek, which both women said was caused by a fall.

Then in July, Star spent the night at work in Doncaster with Brockhill, and the abuse was turned up a notch. A huge bruise appears on Star’s cheek, followed by frantic Google searches on how to get rid of it as fast as possible.

That was then followed by a secretly recorded phone call with Smith, in which she is gaslighted into a rage by Brockhill, desperately trying to keep Star away for another day so the bruising could subside and her actions be hidden.

But Star was returned, the bruise blamed away, the gullible Smith accepting the excuse.

It ratcheted up again at the end of August when Star was seen with large bruising that looked like a handprint to the side of her head – caused by slaps, an expert doctor said. Brockhill put these down to a fall down the stairs, and Smith bought it again.

But then Smith got suspicious on September 13. Star was brought back after a weekend with Brockhill at work again, covered in bruises, on her body, hands, feet. Smith thought Brockhill had been pinching her daughter – little did she know the true extent of what happened.

CCTV footage shown in court revealed extensive and sustained assaults on Star by Brockhill in the confines of her car, punches, slaps, all to a defenceless baby. The severity ratcheted up again. It's likely this was when Star suffered a major skull fracture.

And September 22 was when it boiled over. Left alone with Star in Smith’s flat – Smith was in the bathroom – a devastating blow or blows were delivered, a punch, kick, stamp, to Star’s abdomen, causing fatal internal injuries.

Brockhill tried to cover her tracks, coming up with a cover story on the phone to 999 to divert blame from herself, and strong-arming Smith into going along with it during a moment alone at hospital.

Smith – still terrified of her partner – went along with the story until midway through the trial, when she knew she had to tell the truth about what caused the death of her 16-month-old daughter, and she blew Brockhill’s lie wide open.

But Smith isn’t innocent, while cleared of murder and manslaughter, she has been found guilty of causing or allowing the death of her daughter. By giving an angry, violent woman unsupervised access to do whatever she wanted with Star.

Why did Savannah Brockhill kill Star? Why did she abuse Smith? Why is she so angry? Why has she lied relentlessly for the past 15 months? Just, why?

Sadly we may never know. She still denies killing Star, or ever being violent to her or Smith. Until she admits her crimes, these answers will tragically remain unanswered.