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A mom and her former accomplice have been jailed for the murder of her toddler after he suffered greater than 70 accidents in an evening of “violent discipline” in their caravan.
Sian Hedges, 27, and Jack Benham, 35, had been sentenced to life imprisonment with minimal phrases of 19 years and 23 years respectively at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday for the murder of Alfie Phillips.
The pair murdered 18-month-old Alfie Phillips throughout a cocaine and whisky-fuelled rampage on 28 November 2020, close to Hernhill, Kent, the court docket heard.
The younger baby suffered a “myriad of bruises”, damaged ribs, arms and a leg, with traces of cocaine discovered in his physique.
Hedges and Benham denied harming Alfie.
In a sufferer affect assertion learn in court docket, Alfie’s father Sam Phillips mentioned: “After the trial we still feel we deserve answers. I will never know the truth about what happened to my son.
“I never got to hear him say his first proper words, I never got to have a conversation with him, I was robbed of the opportunity to see him grow up.”
Prosecutor Jennifer Knight KC beforehand informed jurors: “It is clear that he had been deliberately injured on more than one occasion, culminating in an assault perpetrated on him during the night of 27 to 28 November 2020 that led to his death.
“Jack Benham and Sian Hedges were in the caravan together throughout the night. Had either defendant not been joining in with the assaults, that defendant who was not part of it would have stopped the attack and removed Alfie Phillips from the caravan, and from the presence of the other who was carrying out these attacks.
“The fact that this did not happen can only be because both defendants agreed that the assaults should take place. They both agreed in meting out some sort of aggressive, violent discipline to Alfie that night which resulted in his death.”
Mr Phillips, Alfie’s father, described him as “good as gold” and “lively”, including there was “never a dull moment” with the toddler, who he mentioned was at all times enjoying and laughing.
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