Man jailed for crushing Alfie Lamb to death is released after serving just THREE YEARS behind bars
Fury over decision to free Alfie Lamb’s killer: Family of tragic toddler were NOT told ex-Tory minister’s son who crushed toddler to death with car seat was released early from prison after just THREE YEARS behind bars
Stephen Waterson, 30, crushed his girlfriend’s son to death in February 2018Alfie Lamb, three, died after Waterson reversed his electronic car seat into himHe was jailed for over seven years in 2019 after pleading guilty to manslaughter Described as ‘arrogant, selfish and deeply unpleasant’, he has now been freed
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The family of a three-year-old who was crushed to death by the son of a former Tory minister were not told the killer was being released from prison after just three years behind bars.
Stephen Waterson, 30, was jailed for seven and a half years in 2019 after he crushed Alfie Lamb to death with a car seat.
Waterson was not due for release until 2023 and remains on licence until 2025, after being jailed at the Old Bailey for manslaughter and perverting the course of justice by lying to police, and intimidating witnesses.
But the child killer, who was 26 at the time of Alfie’s death, has now been released early, after serving just over three years in jail.
In total he served three years in jail – just under half his of his prison sentence – due to the roughly one and a half years he spent on remand awaiting the trial.
But according to the Sun, Alfie’s family were not told about his release on licence.
Sources told the newspaper they would receive an official apology over the miscommunication.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘This was a despicable crime and our sympathies remain with the family.
Stephen Waterson, 30, the adopted son of former Tory MP Nigel Waterson, was described by police as ‘arrogant, selfish and deeply unpleasant’ after he admitted manslaughter in relation to the death of three-year-old Alfie Lamb who he crushed with the seat of an Audi convertible
Pictured: Alfie Lamb with his mother Adrian Hoare, who was 23 at the time of his death. She was jailed for two years and nine months in May 2019 after being convicted of child cruelty
‘Waterson has been released under probation supervision after serving the prison part of his sentence but can be returned there if he breaches the strict conditions he is under.’
‘Arrogant’ Waterson was returning home after shopping in South London when he reversed his electronic car seat onto Alfie Lamb who was sitting at his mother’s feet in the footwell behind.
The child began crying and choking, but his mother Adrian Hoare told him to ‘shut up’ before Waterson put the seat forward again.
By the time the trio arrived at Waterson’s home in Croydon, south London, Alfie had collapsed and stopped breathing.
He died at St Thomas’ Hospital in South London from catastrophic brain damage on February 4, 2018, three days after the incident.
Alfie’s mother Adrian Hoare was jailed for two years and nine months in May 2019. She was offered early release just five months later but her licence was revoked and was taken back into custody in May 2020.
Stephen Waterson (left) pictured with his father Nigel Waterson and mother Barbara
Alfie Lamb, three, (pictured) was found unresponsive and later died after a car journey in February 2018 in which he was squashed in the footwell of an Audi convertible
Waterson, the adopted son of former Tory MP Nigel Waterson, who was described by police as ‘arrogant, selfish and deeply unpleasant’, tried to avoid prosecution by repeatedly lying and intimidating witnesses.
He denied manslaughter during an earlier trial in which the jury were unable to reach a verdict, before pleading guilty on the first day of his retrial.
During sentencing, Old Bailey judge Mr Justice Timothy Kerr told Waterson that he was ‘manipulative, dishonest, deceitful, controlling, threatening, and sometimes violent’.
The law states that, with the exception for life sentences or certain violent crimes, offenders will serve half their sentence in prison and half on licence in the community and subject to recall should they reoffend.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed Waterson had completed the prison part of his sentence and will serve the remaining time on licence under supervision.
Hairdresser Hoare, who was just 24 at the time, was jailed in May 2019 after being convicted of child cruelty.
The Audi (pictured) in which Waterson crushed Alfie by reversing his electric car seat. Alfie’s mother Adrian Hoare had put him in harm’s way by placing him in the footwell behind the seat
Waterson denied manslaughter during an earlier trial in which the jury were unable to reach a verdict, before pleading guilty on the first day of his retrial. Pictured: Alfie Lamb
Alfie (pictured) died at St Thomas’ Hospital in South London from catastrophic brain damage on February 4, 2018, three days after his mother’s boyfriend crushed him in the car
Hoare (pictured in custody) was recalled to prison last year for breaching her licence conditions. Before going back however, Hoare told a newspaper she was a ‘good mum’
While her two year and nine month sentence was also cut short, she was recalled to prison last year for breaching her licence conditions.
Before going back however, Hoare, who has lived in both Gravesend and Chatham, told a newspaper she was a good mother.
Hoare, a former Northfleet School for Girls pupil, was cleared of manslaughter.
At the conclusion of the court case, Scotland Yard’s detective chief inspector Simon Harding said Alfie died as the result of a ‘selfish and cruel act’.
He said: ‘It’s hard to imagine what sort of pain anyone would go through when you are being crushed in that way. For a three-and-a-half-year-old to be crushed by something so strong and no one helping, it’s a shocking way to die.
‘Stephen Waterson has come across as a selfish, abhorrent individual who killed a three-and-a-half-year-old child and has never stood up and said what has happened and taken responsibility for the actions he performed on that day.’
