‘Monster’ who beat baby to death stays behind bars as third parole bid fails

His behaviour after her death then amplified the agony for her heartbroken parents. He lied about what had happened to her, then confessed, then changed his original plea of guilty to manslaughter to not guilty and not guilty to murder forcing her family to endure the stress and torment of a trial.

Now a Parole Board panel has decided he should not be released after a third review of his case. They also decided he should not be transferred to an open prison.

Mollie’s mother, Rachel Webb told the MEN: “He should never come out, he’s a monster. He will never change. He’s evil.”

The mother-of-two added: “Stoker is living in his own world still denying what he has done. He is a hard-faced horrible person.

“I have never been asked to make an impact statement for the Parole Board – I wish I had been asked. I want to make one if he tries again to get out.

“My daughter was nine months old when she was cruelly murdered by her uncle Trevor Stoker – 21 years has gone by and it’s still as raw today as the day she was brutally attacked and died four days later due to severe head trauma and broken eye sockets and broken brain stem.

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“Trevor Stoker is an evil man who to this day is still denying doing it and has now gone up for a third time for parole. My fear is that he would do this again and I never want another family to go through what I have..

“It still traumatises me everyday and will still everyday of my life to come. I fear he would come for me and my other children and not think twice of hurting us.

“He should remain in jail for the rest of his life. He still has no remorse for what he did and what he took away from me that day. He broke my family that day and we are still grieving the loss of our beautiful baby girl who should now be living her life to the fullest.”

As required by law Mr Stoker’s case was referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice to determine whether he could be safely released on parole licence. If not, the panel had to consider whether transfer to open conditions could be recommended.

The panel could only direct release if it was satisfied that it was no longer necessary for the protection of the public that Mr Stoker remained in prison.

In a summary report the Parole Board says: “In reaching its decision, the panel considered the contents of Mr Stoker’s dossier, prepared by the Secretary of State. This included up-to-date reports from Mr Stoker’s probation officer based in the community and other assessments and documentation from the establishment.

“The panel did not have the benefit of a victim personal statement but appreciated there was continuing engagement with the victim liaison scheme.”

On 15 November 2006 Mr Stoker received a mandatory life sentence with a minimum tariff of 15 years, seven months and six days’ imprisonment, following his conviction for murder.

He was 38 years old at the time he was sentenced and was aged 57 when his case was reviewed for a third time by the Parole Board. Stoker first became eligible to be considered for release in June 2022.

The report says: “Having considered the index offence and the other evidence before it, the panel listed as risk factors those influences which made it more likely that Mr Stoker would reoffend.

“At the time of his offending, these risk factors had included not being able to control extreme emotion, not thinking what will happen as a result of his actions, difficulties in relationships.

“Evidence was presented in the dossier regarding Mr Stoker’s progress and custodial conduct during this sentence. He maintains his innocence and has not undertaken any accredited programmes. Key report writers could not support his release.

“The panel examined the release plan provided by Mr Stoker’s probation officer and weighed its proposals against assessed risks. The panel concluded this plan was not robust enough to manage Mr Stoker in the community at this stage as necessary core risk reduction work remained outstanding and his risk had not been effectively reduced.

“After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented in the dossier, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public. Nor did the panel recommend to the Secretary of State that Mr Stoker should be transferred to open prison. He will be eligible for another parole review in due course.”

Stoker’s trial left jury members at Manchester Crown Court in tears. But the death of nine-month-old Mollie would ultimately change the way police investigate child homicides.

The case was a landmark for UK policing. Detectives, forensic officers, and medical experts pushed the boundaries of investigation to prove that Stoker had killed Mollie. Their work showed Stoker’s explanation that he fell downstairs with Mollie accidentally was a lie.

The brutal truth was that Stoke had punched Mollie in the face and body through a pillow, and then lifted her by her ankles into the air and swung her down against a bed.

The brain injuries she suffered made medical history due to their severity on a baby so young.

Stoker later told police when he was punching the child he was “trying to take the hate out on Mollie”. After the verdict, Mollie’s parents, Rachel Webb and Carl Norman, said: “We trusted him and he was evil.”

Mollie died in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool on June 16, 2005, four days after Stoker attacked her at his home in Briar. That day, he confessed to killing Mollie during a dramatic phone call to police.

But at first he claimed the fatal injuries Mollie suffered were due to a fall down stairs. He also pretended to use his life saving skills picked up in the armed forces to reassure Mollie’s family she would be okay.

Stoker was arrested at a service station on the M5 as he made his way to Bristol with the intention of jumping from a bridge. He later confessed to killing Mollie in a police interview and in a letter to a detective.

But he then said the confessions were false as he wanted to take the blame as he was concerned Mollie’s family might attack his wife.

When confessing, Stoker said that during the evening before the attack he squeezed Mollie tightly, causing her distress. This was to get anger out of his system. He also spoke of his hatred towards Mollie’s father, Carl Norman, describing him as a ‘dead leg’.

Manchester Crown Court was told Stoker’s motive for attacking Mollie was to get at her father. He resented what he believed was his idle nature and thought it a “bit of a cheek” that he and his wife had been asked to babysit Mollie when his in-laws had babysat the previous weekend.

The officer in charge of the investigation was Detective Chief Inspector, Geoff Wessell, based in Salford, who went on to become an Assistant Chief Constable with Avon and Somerset Police force before retiring.

Mr Wessell said: “”What Stoker did to Mollie will live in my memory for a long time. For years. And as a senior investigating officer, it’s one of the most significant cases I’ve dealt with. It was a great team effort to get the conviction with how Stoker messed around after his despicable act.

“But also, I can remember the impact on Carl and Rachel and the wider family, which will live with me for a long time.”

To his wife and two children, Stoker was a hard-working HGV driver and a caring father. A non-smoker and almost teetotal, he would get up at 5.30am to workout with weights or go for a run, a legacy of his military training.

But at Stoker’s trial it was revealed that 18 years earlier, when he was a 20-year-old Army private, he had assaulted a 10-month-old boy who was the child of his then girlfriend, Susan Rackley, in London.

He was left alone with Aaron at Susan’s London flat after she went to work. During his murder trial Stoker told the court what he did on that occasion: “While I was changing his bottom he kept crawling away. I ended up losing my temper. I felt bad, guilty at what I had done.”

He admitted giving Aaron a couple of slaps and leaving him with a mark on his head where he had kept pulling him back along the carpet. Later that day he went out for a drink with friends, telling them Aaron had been “a little b*****” and he had “nearly killed him”.

Mr Wessell said: “You look back now and add the years on of where Mollie should be in terms of her life, now in early 20s – enjoying all the things that a 20 year old should do, that’s been taken away from her.

“We’re guided by society in terms of whether he’s (Stoker) dangerous he’s obviously clearly got a temper, he’s clearly got some issues. Whether he’s a changed person I don’t know my thoughts always come back to Mollie and comes back to Carl and Rachel and what they’ve lost.”

When Stoker spoke to a police officer as he drove south, seemingly with the intention of leaping from a Bristol bridge, he referred to himself in the third person, saying “Trevor” was a kind and devoted father-of-two, but a “demon” inside his mind was responsible for his appalling crime.