A mother and father who spent their days smoking cannabis killed their baby on Christmas Day after using lockdown as cover for their brutal treatment of him.
Stephen Boden, 30, and Shannon Marsden, 22, were found guilty on Friday of the murder of Finley Boden during the winter 2020 Covid lockdown.
His death came just 39 days after he was placed back into their care by a family court.
Only hours after his son's death, Boden was heard telling Marsden at hospital that he was going to sell Finley's pushchair on eBay - later telling police he only said this in an effort to lighten the mood.
The trial judge, Mrs Justice Tipples was on the verge of tears as she praised the "extremely impressive" jurors for their "dedication, commitment and patience". A number of jurors were in tears after the unanimous verdicts, returned after more than 25 hours of deliberations.
A five-week trial at Derby Crown Court heard that 10-month-old Finley suffered a catalogue of "appalling" injuries, including 71 bruises over his body and 57 fractures, many inflicted in the short period before his fatal collapse.
Prosecutor Mary Prior KC described how Finley's pelvis had been broken in two places, possibly from sustained "kicking or stamping", and that he had suffered two burns on his left hand "from a hot, flat surface" and probably "from a cigarette lighter flame".
His death came after he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on Christmas Day at the family's "cluttered" and filthy terraced home in the village of Old Whittington, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
Covid threat used keep social worker away
Jurors heard that throughout the 39 days in which Finley lived with them, Boden and Marsden conspired to keep social workers and other health professionals from seeing the child, using social distancing measures as an excuse.
Photographs had been shown in court of the couple's squalid home and the blood-stained items found by police inside, including a vomit and faeces-stained cot mattress cover, duvet cover, Mickey Mouse baby grow and a "Captain Cute" T-shirt.
Ms Prior told the jury that the pair were "in it together", repeatedly lying to hide their abuse from the police, social services and their own families.
Boden told police that a few days before Finley’s death a social worker had said she could not come into their house because of the threat of Covid.
When a child protection worker rang two days before his death to say she had to see Finley face-to-face, she was told by Marsden that the baby was not well and a Covid test had been ordered.
However, Marsden fobbed off the child protection worker’s attempts to see the child via WhatsApp, claiming she could not download the app.
Ms Prior told jurors: “[Finley’s] parents worked together to hide the injuries from family and friends, the social worker, the health visitor, and the police for their own self-centred reason.
“They did not want social services to remove [Finley’s brother] if the appalling way that they treated Finley was discovered.”
Couple turned relatives away at Christmas
At one stage Marsden even turned a family member away when she dropped by to deliver Christmas presents, using the lockdown as pretext for not letting her into the house.
Boden later claimed Finley’s broken ribs may have been caused by the family dog jumping on his son and that a tear to the inside of the baby’s mouth, likely caused by a dummy being rammed into it, came after he hit himself with a rattle.
He also sent a text message two days before his son’s death saying: “I want to bounce him off the walls.”
Boden, of Romford Way in Barrow Hill, Chesterfield, and Marsden, of no fixed address, had denied murder, two counts of child cruelty, and two charges of causing or allowing the death of a child.
The pair, who did not react as the verdicts were read, will be sentenced at a later date.
How Finley fell through the cracks
When a family court ordered that baby Finley be returned to his parents after nine months living with other family members, it did so in the hope they would ensure his well being.
Jurors in their trial at Derby Crown Court heard that Finley had been returned to the couple's care by a court order in November 2020, under an eight-week plan which included unsupervised visits and overnight stays.
This came despite social workers asking for a six month transition period, along with a 12-month supervision period, to establish if Boden and Marsden were truly capable of looking after him. They had reason to be concerned.
Finley had been made the subject of a child protection plan by social services a month before he was born because of his parents’ heavy use of cannabis.
As a result of continued concerns over their drug use Finley was removed from their care shortly after being born in February 2020 and sent to live with other family members, along with his older brother.
The court heard that under the care of his relatives the baby thrived.
Mary Prior KC, prosecuting, told the jury: “For the first 9 months of his life, Finley was fit and well safe and happy. His life changed when on the 17th November 2020, the two boys were moved, by a family court order, to live with the defendants, Stephen Boden and Shannon Marsden, their mother and father.
“Thirty nine days later, Finley was dead and in the last two to three weeks of his life he was subjected to significant, substantial and repeated acts of severe violence. The severity of the injuries showed that the violence used would have required considerable force.”
Family members expressed their anguish at the family court’s decision to return Finley to Boden and Marsden.
A source close to the family told The Telegraph: “They were on their knees begging the family court not to send him back to his mum and dad. They were desperate to keep him because he feared what might happen to him.
“Finley’s relatives were in the process of legally adopting him when the court made that decision. It’s heartbreaking.”
Another source with knowledge of the case said: “We couldn’t believe it when the family court decision came and Finley was sent back to Shannon and Stephen. We just couldn’t understand the logic of it because he had been doing really well with his relatives. He was happy with them.”
The source added: “A relative went round a few days before Christmas to hand presents over, but Shannon said Finley was feeling poorly and so she didn’t go in because of the Covid lockdown.
“Now she blames herself, saying she should have insisted on seeing Finley.”
At one stage Marsden admitted that she and Boden bought 3.5 grams of cannabis every two days at a cost of £30, with one prosecution expert calculating they would have spent between £5,460 and £7,300 a year on the drug.
Marsden even denied knowing at the time that Finley had suffered any injuries at all and in court she blamed her partner for her baby’s death.
One of the social workers involved in Finley’s case is understood to have been absent from work with stress following the return of the baby boy to his parents and his subsequent murder at their hands.
The NSPCC expressed its deep concerns over Finley’s case. Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive, said: “It is deeply harrowing and difficult to comprehend the suffering that Finley experienced leading up to his death, inflicted by the very people who should have been caring for him and protecting him from harm.
“The death of a child in such brutal circumstances leaves many of us asking questions and we await the Child Safeguarding Practice Review to provide answers as soon as possible.”
Derbyshire County Council, whose social workers were tasked with ensuring Finley was being properly looked after, said: “Finley’s death is a tragedy and our heartfelt sympathy goes out to everyone who knew and loved him.
“Following the conviction of Finley’s parents Stephen Boden and Shannon Marsden for murder we continue to be fully engaged with the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership which has commissioned a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review. The review is conducted independently and it would not be appropriate for us to comment further until that review is complete to ensure we do not pre-empt its findings.”
