Bobby's mother blames partner in court

The trial of two people accused of murdering a ten year old boy, Bobby, in Småland in January, began on Tuesday at Eksjö district court.

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Bobby's 30 year old mother and her 39 year old partner are charged with murder, with an alternative charge of assault and manslaughter

The trial began with man's defence lawyer, Per Oehme, presenting new written evidence to the court. It related to SMS messages and statements written by Bobby's mother, in which she described various kinds of attacks on the boy.

Her defence lawyer, Anders Berggren, claims that the mother wrote the messages, but only at the instigation of her partner. He said that the messages were characteristic of her partner.

When prosecutor Erik Handmark went through the various charges against the couple, it became clear that the trial is likely to become a complicated blame game between them.

Bobby's mother acknowledged several of the incidents in which her son had been abused and beaten, but claimed that her own actions were due to the fact that she was threatened by her partner.

She also referred via her lawyer to the 'dangerous situation' Bobby was in, but did not want to go into any more details.

The woman and her partner sat at the same table in the courtroom, separated only by a defence lawyer. They did not exchange any looks and showed no reaction.

The man claimed that many of the things the prosecutor alleged had never happened.

Soon afterwards, on point after point, the mother admitted to the incidents but said they were at the initiative of her partner.

Per Oehme, the partner's lawyer, said that Bobby's mother was simply describing events which had never happened.

"She is fantasising," he told TT.

Consequently, he said, ten year old Bobby was not exposed to the attacks which the prosecutor is claiming.

"It did not happen at all to that extent and just because you're prosecuted for it doesn't mean it happened," he said.

With the written evidence Oehme wanted to show that Bobby's mother is no stranger to violence. The sadomasochistic 'essays' were written last summer and described attacks similar to those to which Bobby was exposed.

However, her lawyer, Anders Berggren, rejected the new evidence as irrelevant.

"They mean nothing. They were created by my colleague's client," Berggren told TT.

"They are a commissioned work," he said.

Berggren did not go into the ongoing threat against the woman and the boy which, he says, was what led her to participate in the attacks.

A large press corps was waiting outside the courtroom on Tuesday morning. The brutality of the case has shocked Sweden, prompting many to call for a new 'Bobby law' to help protect children from violence.

The trial is expected to last for seven days.