In 2018, the Offender Database recorded that 23-year-old law student Elizabeth Wilkins was jailed for seven years after being convicted of a violent attack on her three-month-old son. Wilkins—originally of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and then residing in Plymouth, Devon—was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court following a trial that detailed a series of horrific injuries inflicted on a defenceless infant. It was reported that the investigation began in September 2016 when the baby was admitted to hospital with life-threatening head injuries and multiple fractured ribs.
The investigation established that Wilkins, who had been working as an escort while studying law at Plymouth University, lashed out in frustration and anger. Plymouth Crown Court heard that she shook her son with such force that his ribs were broken on several occasions. The prosecution reported that the violence culminated on 22 September 2016, when Wilkins smashed the baby’s head against a hard surface in the flat she shared with her partner, causing a skull fracture and permanent brain damage.
Judicial Findings and Investigative Detail
The court reported that Wilkins attempted to shift the blame onto her former partner, Erick Vanselow, who was ultimately acquitted of all charges. During the trial, Wilkins made claims about suffering horrendous abuse as a child, including being forced to eat her own pet, but jurors were instructed to weigh these claims against evidence that she lived in a parallel universe of her own making. The investigation established that while Wilkins denied the charges of grievous bodily harm with intent and actual bodily harm, a jury unanimously found her guilty on both counts.
Judge Peter Johnson presided over the sentencing on 6 December 2018, describing the case as very serious. For her actions in Plymouth and Devon, Wilkins was handed a seven-year custodial sentence. The judge noted that the boy, who was just three months old at the time of the final attack, suffered developmental problems as a result of the brain damage she inflicted, and emphasized that the prison sentence reflected the gravity of the betrayal of a mother’s duty to protect her child.
Status and Statutory Requirements
For the records reported in Devon and Somerset, the status of Elizabeth Wilkins as of April 7, 2026, was as follows:
- Custodial Status: RELEASED (Served 7-year term; sentenced December 2018; released on licence circa 2022-2023).
- Supervision Status: Subject to post-release supervision and licensing conditions.
- No Contact Order: Banned from contacting her son or any children under her care.
- DBS Status: Placed on the Barring List (Indefinite ban on working with children or vulnerable adults).
- Legal Status: CONVICTED (GBH with intent; Assault causing actual bodily harm).
- Judicial Oversight: Sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court; investigated by Devon and Cornwall Police.
- Criminal Record: Shook and fractured the ribs of her 3-month-old; Smashed infant’s head against a hard surface; Caused permanent brain damage.
- Origin: Weston-super-Mare, Somerset; Plymouth, Devon.
Monitoring and Public Protection
Wilkins is managed as a high-risk violent offender within the community following her release from prison. Due to the nature of her conduct—specifically her use of lethal force against an infant and her documented tendency to fabricate “abusive histories” to deflect blame—her management is a critical priority for the National Probation Service. Authorities state that her background as a law student and her history as an escort highlight a complex profile of an individual capable of extreme violence when under stress or frustration.
As a convicted child abuser, the defendant’s details are permanently logged on the national police database. Authorities state that her licence conditions include a total prohibition on unsupervised contact with minors. Any future residence in Plymouth, Weston-super-Mare, or any other jurisdiction will be subject to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). Any failure to adhere to supervision, any attempt to contact her son, or any proximity to children will result in immediate arrest and recall to prison to ensure the ongoing safety of the public from her demonstrated pattern of explosive violence against the vulnerable.
QUESTION – Given that the offender was a law student who attempted to frame her partner for her own violent crimes against an infant, do you believe that “Deceptive Defences” in child abuse cases should lead to an automatic doubling of the custodial sentence?
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