The grandmother of baby James Hughes has described murderer Hannah Turtle as pure evil.

Kathleen Hughes said in a victim impact statement read at Mold Crown Court that what Turtle had done to her family was unforgivable.

She did not deserve forgiveness, she said.

In her statement on behalf of the family, read to Mold Crown Court by prosecuting barrister David Elias QC, Mrs Hughes, of Ryeland Street in Shotton, said James was born on April 17, 2016, and sadly passed away on June 13 of that year.

“We miss James more than I can put into words," said Mrs Hughes.

“He was my angel and as he was born just 11 days after my birthday he felt like a late birthday present for me,” she said.

“Our lives will never be the same again.”

Mrs Hughes blames herself for what had happened.

“I feel I should have noticed Hannah was in that frame of mind and I should have done more to protect James.”

She said her son Ian, James’ father, had “been to Hell and back.”

“It has been difficult to see what he has gone through and without us all being together to support each other I don’t think we would have got through it all,” she said.

Ian had been a different person since it happened.

He had been very quiet and not doing the things he used to.

Mr Hughes was only able to speak to his sister Charlotte about what had happened and she, too, had struggled with what had happened and they had supported each other.

“Charlotte loved James and was a very hands-on auntie.

“She was proud of her brother’s first child and I loved seeing him as a new father,” said Mrs Hughes.

“He wanted to be a dad so much.

“The day that James was born he could not smile wider.”

Mr Hughes, said his mum, worked hard to support them financially and when he was not working spent time with them both and cared for James.

“I have no doubt he would have continued to be a fantastic father and I hope eventually he can come to terms with what has happened,” said Mrs Hughes.

“I can’t believe that it was all taken away from him by Hannah, so suddenly and so tragically.”

Mrs Hughes revealed she had been going for bereavement counselling for the last year because she was struggling to deal with everything.

She had regular nightmares and relived different incidents when James stopped breathing.