‘Evil’ killers of little Arthur could face longer jail terms
‘Evil’ killers of little Arthur could face longer jail terms: Attorney General refers ‘unduly lenient’ sentences handed to father and step-mother to Court of Appeal after they subjected six-year-old to campaign of torture and mental abuse
Emma Tustin killed Arthur Labinjo-Hughes by slamming his head on hard surfaceTustin was convicted of murder and his father Thomas of manslaughterHer life sentence with minimum 29 years and his 21 years have referredThe ‘evil’ killers of little Arthur could face longer jail sentences in the New Year Court of Appeal will not decide if either of them were too lenient in length
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The jail sentences handed to Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes, who killed six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, have been referred to the Court of Appeal for being too lenient, the Attorney General Suella Braverman has announced.
Six-year-old Arthur was beaten and tortured before his murder at the hands of stepmother Emma Tustin at her home in Solihull.
The case prompted a national outpouring of grief and ministers vowed to take action after Tustin was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 29 years and Arthur’s father, Thomas Hughes, was jailed for 21 years for manslaughter.
However, the killers could face longer jail terms if the Court of Appeal decides to change the pair’s ‘unduly lenient’ sentences.
Six-year-old Arthur was beaten and tortured before his murder at the hands of his stepmother
The case prompted a national outpouring of grief and ministers vowed to take action after Tustin was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 29 years and Arthur’s father, Thomas Hughes, was jailed for 21 years for manslaughter
It emerged in court that Arthur was seen by social workers during the first national lockdown just two months before his death in Solihull, West Midlands, in June last year. But they concluded there were ‘no safeguarding concerns’ and closed the file.
Tustin and Hughes starved the youngster, force-fed him salt-laden dishes and made him stand alone for more than 14 hours a day, in a degrading, punishing and hellish regime over the last painful months of his life.
He was left with an unsurvivable brain injury while in the sole care of his father’s ‘evil’ partner Tustin.
Arthur, whose body was also covered in 130 bruises, died in hospital the next day.
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes waking up hours before he collapsed from fatal injuries on CCTV
The photograph taken by Arthur’s paternal grandmother prompted a referral to social services, however the bruises were put down to ‘play-fighting’ with another youngster
‘Manipulative’ and ‘calculating’ Tustin was unanimously convicted after an eight-week trial trial, with the boy’s ‘pitiless’ father Hughes found guilty of his manslaughter, after encouraging the killing.
Hughes’ ‘infatuation’ for Tustin had ‘obliterated’ any love for his son, sentencing judge Mr Justice Mark Wall QC said, and jailed him for 21 years.
Referring the case to the Court of Appeal, Ms Braverman said: ‘This is an extremely upsetting and disturbing case, involving a clearly vulnerable young child.
‘Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes grossly abused their position of trust and subjected an innocent child, who they should have been protecting to continued emotional and physical abuse.
‘I understand how distressing the public have found this case, but it is my job to decide if a sentence appears to be unduly lenient based on the facts of the case.
‘I have carefully considered the details of this case, and I have decided to refer the sentences to the Court of Appeal as I believe them to be too low.’
A date for the hearing at the Court of Appeal is yet to be set.
Boris backs ‘Arthur’s law’: Child killers like step-mother and father of tragic six-year-old would NEVER be released under plan for whole-life sentences for such ‘abhorrent crimes’
Child killers like the step-mother and father of tragic six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes will never been released from prison under proposals backed by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
‘Arthur’s Law’ would see anyone who carries out the murder of a child sent to prison indefinitely.
‘Anyone who plans then carries out the murder of a child should never be released from prison, so we’re toughening the law to make whole-life orders the starting point for such abhorrent crimes,’ Mr Johnson told The Sun.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of ‘ghost children’ are at risk of abuse after failing to return to school following the lockdowns, a senior MP warned.
Robert Halfon, chairman of the Commons education committee, said 100,000 pupils were ‘lost in the system’ and therefore vulnerable to cruelty at home.
His warning came as Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi confirmed there will be an investigation into the failings leading to the death of Arthur.
The boy’s stepmother, Emma Tustin, was jailed last week for at least 29 years for his murder, while his father, Thomas Hughes, was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter.
Boris Johnson wants child killers like the step-mother and father of tragic six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes to never be released from prison
Tens of thousands of ‘ghost children’ are at risk of abuse after failing to return to school following the lockdowns, senior MP Robert Halfon warned yesterday. Above: Murdered six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes
It emerged in court that Arthur was seen by social workers during the first national lockdown just two months before his death in Solihull, West Midlands, in June last year. But they concluded there were ‘no safeguarding concerns’ and closed the file.
Mr Halfon told MPs: ‘There are 100,000 what I call the ghost children, who are lost in the system and who haven’t returned to school for the most time, who are subject to potential safeguarding hazards, county lines gangs, online harm and, of course, awful domestic abuse.’
Mr Halfon asked Mr Zahawi to make a ‘real effort to work with the local authorities, to work with the schools and the regional commissioners to make sure that those 100,000 children who are mostly not in school are returned to school and are being watched by those authorities when they need to be watched’.
Mr Zahawi replied: ‘It is a concerning issue and it is a focus for my department.’
Mr Halfon told MPs: ‘There are 100,000 what I call the ghost children, who are lost in the system and who haven’t returned to school for the most time, who are subject to potential safeguarding hazards, county lines gangs, online harm and, of course, awful domestic abuse
