Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mothering lessons.. after murdering little Arthur
Stepmum Tustin to go on jail course
THE stepmother who murdered Arthur Labinjo-Hughes is set to go on a parenting course in prison.
Evil Emma Tustin is being offered the tuition as part of her life sentence for killing the six-year-old boy.
Tustin, 32 – who has four children of her own – forced Arthur to sleep on the floor, poisoned him with salt and banged his head as part of a catalogue of abuse that horrified the nation. The course is intended to help her “manage certain aspects of her personality” and “deal with her way dangerous beliefs,” a source said. “The phrase ‘too little, too late’ springs to mind,” they added. The course is run at HMP Peterborough, where Tustin, who must serve at least 29 years, is in a unit for inmates with “complex needs”.
The source explained the killer may end up serving many years more if she does not face up to her crimes.
They added: “She will be required to take relationship and parenting courses.
“She needs to tackle what went so catastrophically wrong with her care for Arthur. If she serves just her minimum sentence she’ll be in her 60s when released, so could form relationships that bring her into contact with children.” Arthur’s dad Thomas Hughes, 29, was jailed for 21 years for child cruelty and manslaughter.
A judge at Coventry crown court said neither he nor Tustin had displayed any remorse for their actions.
The father of one of Tustin’s children described her as a “ruthless predator”.
Arthur’s grandmother, Madeleine Halcrow, branded Tustin and Hughes “sadistic” and “evil” and said Arthur was failed by police and social services.
A jail spokesman said: “We cannot comment on individual prisoners.”