Jailed...parents who inflicted 130 injuries killing ‘perfect’ baby
A COUPLE who murdered their 10-monthold son 39 days after he was placed back into their care have been jailed for life.
Evil Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden subjected the child they once described as “perfect’ to “unimaginable cruelty”, a judge said.
Finley died on Christmas Day 2020 after he was found to have suffered 130 “appalling” injuries.
Marsden, 22, and Boden, 30, were ordered to serve minimum terms of 27 and 29 years respectively yesterday. The sadistic pair – described as “monsters” by a relative – inflicted “vicious and repeated assaults” on their son in the space of just over a month.
Savage
Finley was also found to be suffering from sepsis and pneumonia when he died.
Derby Crown Court was told his injuries included a broken pelvis and shoulder, a fractured shinbone, fractured collarbones, fractured ribs and thighbones.
He also had 71 bruises and other burns and his blood, vomit and faeces were found on his clothes and body.
Mrs Justice Amanda Tipples said the pair were “persuasive and accomplished liars” who “brutally assaulted” their son.
She told them: “You both knew that Finley was very seriously ill and dying yet you deliberately failed to seek medical help and you made sure he was not seen by anyone that could have rescued him and taken him away from your care.
“He was subjected to repeated abuse. Once injuries had been inflicted, Finley’s daily experience was one of considerable pain, distress and suffering. It was obvious to both of you by December 16 that Finley was very seriously injured. He was no longer able to sit up and play with his toys. He was unable to feed himself. By the evening of December 23 he was plainly dying.
“There was nothing subtle about this. It was plainly obvious to both of you.”
The pair, who were convicted of murder following a trial, showed no emotion and were silent during sentencing.
Family members wept in the public gallery as the judge detailed the horrific abuse they inflicted at their filthy Chesterfield home.
Mary Prior KC, prosecuting, told the court Finley was exposed to “vicious and repeated assaults” that culminated in his “savage and prolonged” murder.
She said the broken pelvis was possibly from sustained “kicking or stamping”, with injuries likened to a multi-storey fall.
Finley also had two burns on his left hand – one “from a hot, flat surface”, the other probably “from a cigarette lighter flame”.
As their son deteriorated, the couple hid him from social workers and family despite several attempts to see him, with Mrs Prior saying they told a “series of persistent lies”.
A social worker visited on November 19 and noticed Finley had a 1.6in bump on his head, which Marsden claimed was due to him hitting his head on a toy, an explanation that was accepted by social services.
He was then seen with bruises on a visit on November 27 – the last time social services saw Finley alive, despite family photos two days later showing bruising to his left cheek, ear and scalp.
This, was the first evidence of non-accidental injuries inflicted on the infant, the trial heard. Mrs Prior said: “His parents worked together to hide the injuries, to keep prying eyes away, to avoid social services, the health visitor and the police.”
Finley was last seen alive at 7.16pm on Christmas Eve on CCTV at a Tesco Express.
Concerns
The trial was told Boden, who has 22 previous convictions, and Marsden arranged cannabis deals in the days before Finley’s death, with Boden texting a dealer stating he wanted to “bounce [Finley] off the walls”.
Finley was taken into care after he was born but returned to his parents full time in November 2020 after a family court order was made in October.
Details of the ruling showed magistrates said he should go back within eight weeks without the pair being drug tested. That was despite Derbyshire County Council telling the family court it had “some concerns” over Marsden and Boden’s cannabis use.
The family court was shown images of a tidy home.A social worker said Finley was a “smiler” who “likes to blow raspberries”, while his parents described him as “perfect” and a “cuddly, chunky munchkin”.