CCTV footage shown to jurors captured three-year-old Alfie Lamb hurrying through a shopping centre in Sutton, appearing to run in order to keep pace with the adults ahead of him, just hours before the car journey that prosecutors say ended in his death.
The images, presented at the Old Bailey, show the small child walking behind his mother, Adrian Hoare, and her partner, Stephen Waterson, on February 1, 2018, as they left a shopping trip and made their way back toward the car park.
Alfie, described in court as standing around three feet tall, can be seen moving quickly, at times breaking into a run to keep up with the adults’ stride as they walked through the centre.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC asked Hoare during cross-examination whose pace she had been walking at and what consideration had been given to Alfie’s shorter legs, questioning why he appeared to be hurrying.
Hoare replied that it was simply the way she walked and said that Alfie often ran even when it was just the two of them together.
Later that afternoon, the group set off in an Audi convertible toward Croydon, South London, a journey that would become central to the prosecution’s case.
Jurors were told that there were four adults in the vehicle as well as two children, and that Alfie was seated in the rear footwell area during the trip home.
Prosecutors allege that during the journey, Waterson deliberately pushed his car seat back against the child after becoming frustrated by Alfie’s crying.
The court heard that Alfie became unwell during the drive and later collapsed outside the home he shared with the couple.
He died three days later after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Waterson, 25, denies manslaughter and maintains that he has no knowledge of how Alfie sustained the fatal injuries, insisting they had nothing to do with the car seat.
Hoare, 23 at the time, also denies manslaughter and further denies child cruelty charges related to placing Alfie in the footwell and allegations of assault on a separate occasion.
Both defendants have admitted perverting the course of justice by providing false statements to police following the incident.
In court, Mr Atkinson challenged Hoare over what she understood about the events inside the car.
He suggested that until Alfie entered the vehicle, he had appeared fine, and that by the time the car reached its destination, his condition had significantly deteriorated.
The prosecutor asked whether Hoare realized that whatever had happened must have occurred during the journey and whether she suspected Waterson’s actions.
Hoare told the jury that she did not immediately blame anyone and said she did not at first believe that her partner had caused the harm.
The prosecution further alleged that Waterson had moved his seat back more than once, and that the second movement was deliberate.
Hoare agreed that he had been annoyed but stated she did not initially attribute Alfie’s condition to any specific act.
During questioning by Waterson’s barrister, Tana Adkin QC, Hoare was asked why she did not remove Alfie from the confined space when he was crying and calling for her.
The court heard that Alfie was described as upset and struggling during the journey.
Hoare responded that she would not have been able to remove him because the position of the seat prevented her from accessing him.
Mr Atkinson pressed further, asking whether it had been obvious that the child did not have enough room.
Hoare said she would have acted if she believed Alfie could not breathe or was in serious danger.
Jurors were also told that after Alfie’s collapse, Hoare sent a text message to Waterson stating that police “know we’re lying” after the pair initially claimed the child had been injured in a taxi that had driven away.
The prosecution has suggested that this false account was an attempt to mislead investigators about what had occurred inside the Audi.
Waterson, who is the adoptive son of former Conservative cabinet minister Nigel Waterson, is also accused of intimidating another individual following the incident, a charge he denies.
Throughout the proceedings, the CCTV footage has remained a powerful piece of evidence, offering jurors a glimpse of Alfie’s final hours before the car journey.
In the footage, he appears energetic and mobile, moving independently through the shopping centre environment.
Prosecutors argue that the child’s condition changed during the drive, pointing to the timing and circumstances as critical to understanding what occurred.
The defense maintains that there is no proof that the movement of the seat caused the fatal injuries and disputes the prosecution’s interpretation of events.
Medical evidence presented in court has been central to the case, with experts discussing the nature of the injuries and how they may have been sustained.
The trial has also examined the seating arrangements in the Audi convertible, with jurors shown the vehicle and diagrams of where Alfie was positioned.
According to the prosecution, placing a young child in the footwell created a confined environment that left him vulnerable.
Hoare denies that the arrangement amounted to cruelty and maintains that she did not believe Alfie was in danger at the time.
The case has drawn significant public attention, not only because of the child’s age but also because of the disturbing allegations surrounding the journey home.
Throughout the trial, the focus has remained on reconstructing the timeline from the shopping centre to the moment Alfie collapsed.
The CCTV footage from Sutton is one of the last visual records of Alfie alive, showing him moving quickly to keep up with the adults ahead.
Jurors must now weigh that footage alongside witness testimony, medical findings, and the defendants’ accounts to determine what happened inside the car.
Alfie Lamb was three years old.
His death, which followed that February afternoon trip to Sutton, remains at the centre of the ongoing trial as the court continues to hear evidence about the final hours of his life.
