More on KentOnline
The mother of a young boy who was tragically killed by her boyfriend, has been released from prison.
Adrian Hoare, who was the mother of Alfie Lamb, has been freed despite only being jailed seven months ago for child cruelty and assault. She was released in October and has given an interview to a national newspaper.
Her former partner, Stephen Waterson crushed her three-year-old son with his car seat in February 2018.
In the interview, Hoare, 24, says she is washing her hands of any involvement in her son's death and points all the blame on Waterson.
Alfie was in in the footwell of Waterson's car on the way home from a shopping trip when wicked Waterson reversed his seat into the boy and crushed him.
Now, Hoare has spoken out to say she wants to restart her life after being left out early from her two-year, nine-month sentence.
According to the Daily Mail, Hoare insists she was a good mother.
She said: "To me, he's the one that moved the chair. In my head, I blame him more for what's happened.
"I was trying to get him to move the chair. I couldn't have moved the chair myself.
"He should've been in a seat, but where Stephen had kicked off and we knew we weren't going to get him to calm down, we got in the car just to stop him having a go at us.
"I blame it entirely on Stephen. I wouldn't say it's me that caused it to happen."
The three had been out on a shopping trip with friends in Sutton, South London, when Waterson began crushing Alfie, saying he would 'not be told what to do by a three-year-old'.
Alfie was crushed and that caused asphyxia. He died of a heart attack days after the incident.
Hoare was cleared of manslaughter in February this year, but a jury found her guilty of child cruelty and assault.
She had earlier admitted perverting the course of justice by lying to police about the incident.
She was released from HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, on October 11.
The tragedy happened while out on a shopping trip as they were on their way home to Croydon.
Waterson was in his Audi A4 convertible when he began shouting and got frustrated with Alfie during the journey, and reversed into him twice with his electric seat.
Before the incident, CCTV footage showed Alfie running after Hoare and Waterson to catch up with them.
In the interview which was published earlier today, Hoare said she put Alfie on her lap for the drive home, but claims he became scared when Waterson started to lose his temper after a phone call and went into the footwell crying.
He started reversing his seat on to Alfie - who was at his mum's feet when it happened - and despite Alfie's calls for his 'Mummy', he was left in agony in the footwell.
Hoare says she tried to calm Alfie down and get Waterson to stop, but he refused to listen.
She said: "Stephen had decided he wanted to go into town. I had Alfie with me and I said I wasn't going to go with them.
"Stephen started kicking off and wouldn't let us get a bus - we had to go with him.
"I just put him on my lap in the car. Stephen got moody and he started shouting and it scared Alfie, and where Alfie was on my lap, he dropped down in between my legs.
"That's when Stephen moved the chair back. When we told him to stop, he moved it back again and he was shouting at Alfie because he started crying again.
"I couldn't move the chair to get him out."
Alfie died at St Thomas' Hospital in South London, three days after the incident.
In November this year, Waterson was sentenced to five years and six months after admitting manslaughter and he got a further two years and 18 months for intimidation and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Hoare says she looked after her son properly, but her own mother, Janis Templeton-Hoare, has previously said her daughter paid more attention to her phone than Alfie, and that he would beg for food and was often just fed burger and chips.
But speaking after her release Hoare said: "It's not a nice thing to sit and read about someone, but it's not like he was mistreated or something horrible was happening to him all the time, because it wasn't.
"I know it shouldn't have ever been done or happened, but at the time, and even on that day, none of us thought anything like this would've happened.
"I'm not saying I thought it was OK, but it was easier to get in the car with Alfie on my lap or on my seat.
"I would get up with him in the mornings. If he was playing in the front room I would sit on the sofa with him and have my phone in my hand.
"If he would ask for something then I would do it for him. I feel like I did enough for him as a mum."
Alfie was born at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, in March 2014.
She added: "I loved him. It's hard. I fell pregnant and I wasn't getting rid of him. I wanted him.
"We had a really good bond. He was everything to me.
"I was with him every day. I saw all the little changes in him as he was getting older. For that to just be taken away is horrible.
"I think about it every day."
Hoare is not allowed to enter Medway until 2021 under the conditions of her release.