Archie Spriggs murder trial: Sobbing mother denies killing her seven-year-old son
A Shropshire mother accused of murdering her seven-year-old son has told a jury: “I did not kill him.”
Lesley Speed, 44, is alleged to have strangled son Archie Spriggs amid an acrimonious custody battle with her ex-partner.
The court was told she strangled Archie at their Shropshire home on September 21, fearing he would be taken away by Matthew Spriggs, who had applied for a residency order with the family court.
Giving evidence, Speed said she had been upset by claims by Mr Spriggs that Archie wasn’t clean and appeared unkempt.
Miss Rachel Brand QC, defending, put to her: "Was that true?" Speed replied: "No".
Miss Brand QC asked her if she had ever deliberately harmed Archie and if she killed him on September 21 last year.
Speed replied: “Certainly not. No.”
The court has heard that when Speed was initially arrested she told police she found her son hanged in his room and that she tried to help him.
The shop worker yesterday told the jury that Archie had previously remarked about wanting to die.
Speed, who was sobbing at Birmingham Crown Court, said: “He said he wished he was dead. He was in the bath one evening. I went to get him out. He said he wished ‘Dad’ would stop fighting with me.
The case so far:
“I told him not to say things like that and that he didn’t mean it.
“I said ‘Dad is fighting for you because he loves you’. I told him not to worry about it because me and Dad would sort it out.”
She said that on the morning of Archie's death the youngster had climbed into her bed when her partner Darren Jones left for work. She told the jury that Archie asked if it was the court day.
"I said you don't need to worry about it. I will do everything I can to make it safe for you to see 'Dad'. I told him it was too early and he should go back to bed. I didn't look to see what time it was," she told the jury.
In a statement read to the jury Speed's daughter Jordan White, 24, stated that her mother had always had issues with depression, and she came to realise that she was good at hiding it.
She described her Archie as a "serious boy" and she recounted a conversation she had with Archie during her last visit home on August bank holiday weekend.
Miss White, a university student, stated: "Archie told me that he wished his mummy and daddy liked each other because when 'Daddy is nasty to Mummy it affects me."
She added that during one of their chats Archie had placed his dressing gown cord round his neck.
"He said 'Look Jordan it's my toy'. I jumped up and and took it off and told him not to do that. I knew that the ongoing court battle had affected Archie.
"I know the family tried not that talk about it when he was around, but he overheard things. And Archie has a friend at school who is going through the same thing," Miss White stated.
She said she last spoke to Speed by phone on September 19 because of a comment her mother put on Facebook about being upset.
Speed and Mr Spriggs were due to attend family court two days later on September 21, the day of Archie's death, but she failed to turn up.
The prosecution claims that Speed strangled and smothered Archie because she was worried his father would get custody. Speed told police she found her son hanged in his room and that she tried to help him.
Archie was found dead and the mother of three found with self inflicted cuts to her neck and arms by her partner Darren Jones when he returned from work at about 6pm.
Speed denies murder. The trial continues.
