English couple sentenced to life in prison for murdering baby son in case of “unimaginable cruelty”

An English couple A man who fought to get his infant son back from child services and then abused him so severely that the 10-month-old died just a month later was sentenced to life in prison for the murder on Friday. A judge called it an “inconceivable” case. cruelty.”

Stephen Bowden, 30, and Shannon Marsden, 22, showed no emotion as family members wept and gasps rang out in the gallery when they were sentenced at Derby Crown Court.

Finley Bowden, who the judge said was a beautiful, happy, smiling child, died on Christmas Day 2020.

The last weeks of his life There were hell, based on his catalog of injuries: 57 broken bones, 71 bruises, and burns on his hand, including one caused by a cigarette lighter.

“They worked together to inflict all of her injuries and then hid her and let her die in this horrible way,” a relative wrote in a statement read by prosecutor Mary Pryor. “I can only describe you two as monsters for what you do.”

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The boy was taken from him. Marijuana smoking couple Shortly after her birth in February 2020 because social workers said she suffered “significant harm” in her derelict Chesterfield home, Bowden was convicted of domestic violence, according to court records.

As part of her family court plea to get the boy back, Bowden described the tot as “perfect” and Marsden said he was a “loving, cheeky munchkin”.

The court decided to allow him to return on a part-time basis and eventually full-time. There was disagreement between the local social work authority, who wanted a slower transition, and the guardian, who wanted the parents to have full custody sooner.

The couple wanted the boy returned immediately and Bowden assured the court in a statement that they had “worked very hard to make changes.”

Bowden’s lawyer, Simon Kelly, said that was not the case. “Sadistic motivation” for murder..

“This is not a case in which the parents tried to come back to kill Finley,” Kelly said. “The main motivation was to reunite my family.”

But upon arriving home, the boy was subjected to “vicious and repeated attacks” that eventually led to his “brutal and protracted” murder, the prosecutor said. His fracture led to infection, including pneumonia and sepsis, which proved fatal.

In contrast to photos shown in court of a tidy home when the couple was seeking custody, jurors in the trial in April were shown photos of a cluttered home. Marijuana equipment And when Finley died, the baby’s formula went bad. The boy’s clothes were covered in his saliva and feces.

Even when they could see she was in pain, her parents did nothing to help. Both even kept social workers away by saying they thought he had COVID-19, even though they knew it wasn’t true.

Justice Amanda Tipples described them as “persuasive and successful liars”.

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“You both knew Finley was very sick and dying,” Tipples said. “Yet you deliberately failed to get any medical help for him and you ensured that he was not seen by anyone who could rescue him and take him away from your care.”