Arthur Labinjo-Hughes’ killers relaxed in a hot tub during the heatwave, while their six-year-old victim was forced to wear a onesie and stand in a hallway for hours.
Arthur’s step mum Emma Tustin, 32, and his dad Thomas Hughes, 29, have been jailed for killing the little boy on June 16 last year – after putting Arthur through months of regular beatings, starvation, isolation and dehydration.
It came out during the couple’s trials that Arthur was often forced to spend 14 hours a day in the passage of their home in Solihull, in the West Midlands.
At one point, Hughes ripped up his son’s beloved Birmingham City football shirt and forced Arthur to wear a fluffy onesie, despite soaring temperatures in last year’s heatwave.
It was during this time, while Arthur was isolated in a hallway, sweltering in a onesie, that Tustin and Hughes enjoyed their new hot tub, The Sun reported.
The outlet published a photo taken six weeks before Arthur’s murder, showing Hughes and Tustin smiling in the tub.
The couple reportedly put a netted gazebo up around the hot tub to protect themselves from the heat but appeared to show no care for little Arthur.
They even bought a £350 double hanging garden chair to relax on, it is believed.
It comes after it was revealed how the pair cruelly enjoyed ice cream during the same heatwave while Arthur was thought to be left in the hallway again.
Hughes went to buy the treats from a van driving by, before callously walking past his boiling son with two ice creams only to hand one to Tustin.
The evil step mum was convicted of murder and jailed for 29 years while Hughes was found guilty of manslaughter and handed a 21-year sentence at Coventry Crown Court on Friday.
Many have since pushed for harsher sentences with commentators calling for Tustin to ‘never breath fresh air again’.
Those who believe the couple’s sentences are too ‘lenient’ include Solihull MP, Julian Knight, who put the case forward for review at the Attorney General’s office (AGO).
A spokesperson has since confirmed it has received a referral for the case to be looked at under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.
If the AGO believes the sentences are too lax, it will pass the case onto the Court of Appeal, which will have the final say on whether to increase jail time for the couple.
It comes after hundreds, including Arthur’s maternal grandmother Madeleine Halcrow, paid tribute to the little boy at a vigil outside his old house on Sunday.
A major review has been launched into how Arthur’s torment was able to take place despite social workers visiting the house and deciding they had ‘no safeguarding concerns’ just two months before Arthur died.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: ‘We are determined to protect children from harm and where concerns are raised we will not hesitate to take urgent and robust action.
‘We will not rest until we have the answers we need.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/3Dwdv1g
0 Comments