The grieving great-grand father of murdered toddler Star Hobson said it would be "heart-breaking" to spend this Christmas without her.
On the first anniversary of the sentencing of Star's mum Frankie Smith and her partner Savannah Brockhill, David Fawcett, 62, shared his pain.
He said he had only spent one "precious" Christmas with the 16-month-old old girl, before she was murdered by her mother's partner in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
Smith was given a 12-year jail term for allowing or causing her death, and her bouncer Brockhill was given 25 years for murder.
According to David, in Christmas 2019 he was with Star at a family get-together alongside his partner Anita Smith at their home.
He recalled how he was able to see Star's "character coming out" during the festivities.
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28742464.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/1_SWNS_STAR_HOBSON_002.jpg)
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28742466.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_SWNS_STAR_HOBSON_008.jpg)
He put out an adorable photo of Star surrounded by presents in a wheelbarrow that he used to bring out each year during the Christmas Day celebrations.
He said: "It's heartbreaking. We only had the one Christmas with Star. That time, it was just so precious.
"It was lovely, she was about six to seven months old at the time. We could see her character coming out even then. She was lovely.
"She was trying to dance to music.
"We would always have a Christmas wheelbarrow. We used to do it for Christmas. I luckily got a picture of Star sitting there with all the presents."
He added: "After that Christmas, which was in 2019, she had come to live with us until April. That was the best time we had with Star.
"She was just so amazing.
"We were planning for the following Christmas to do something special with her but never got the chance to do it."
David was also sad that Star's mother wouldn't be joining him for Christmas, saying that she had stopped listening to him before her daughter's passing.
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28742469.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/1_SWNS_STAR_HOBSON_001.jpg)
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28742470.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_SWNS_STAR_HOBSON_004.jpg)
He said: "It's the same, heartbreaking without Frankie.
"Everything we did with the kids, we did with Frankie. Even up to the months before we lost her, Frankie was fine with us.
"When she met that monster, everything changed. Things weren't the same.
"Frankie always listened to me. But on this particular occasion, as soon as Savannah Brockhill came on the scene, she was totally brainwashed.
"There was no reasoning with her anymore. She just took Star away."
David who gave evidence at the hearing, said the case had been "traumatic" while adding he still brought flowers to the little girl's grave two or three times a week.
"It was a pretty traumatic time that we were going through.
"I always take flowers down to Star's grave every week. I go down two or three times a week. I always keep her resting place nice.
"When we wake up the first thing we think about is Star and the last thing we think about at night is Star.
"People say that time is a good healer. We just feel the same way every day, it does not seem to get any better for us.
"It's just unbelievable. It takes its toll. It's completely torn the family apart. We are trying to look after each other."
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28742471.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_SWNS_STAR_HOBSON_005.jpg)
![](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article28742468.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_SWNS_STAR_HOBSON_006.jpg)
He added: "We are just trying to keep going and make sure everybody is okay
"We pretend we are okay, but really we're not. We just have to put a brave face on.
"I get a lift when I see a star lit up on a tree. I just feel she is there and looking out for us.
"People have been absolutely amazing. If it was not for them, I don't know how we would have coped."
Jury members heard over the course of Star's trial that she had at least five referrals to social services at Bradford Council, but they had fail to stop her death.
And a report released in February this year found bosses at the department had failed to fill vacancies in the run-up to her passing on September 22, 2020.
Conservative MP for Shipley MP Philip Davies said he still had no faith in Bradford Council's leadership following Star's death.
He said: "One year on, the sentences handed out - particularly to Star's mother - remain insufficient to properly punish them for the unimaginable cruelty they inflicted on Star.
"It remains an outrage that the leadership of Bradford Council remains in place and hasn't taken responsibility for the catalogue of failings Star's case revealed."