London, March 27: A Couple who inflicted more than 70 injuries on a three-year-old boy they babysat were found guilty of his murder.
Toddler Ryan Lovell-Hancox suffered a brain hemorrhage brought on by up to 10 blows to his head when it hit a floor or wall. Experts said his injuries were similar to those suffered by a road accident victim, Sky News reports.
The toddler was in the care of Kayley Boleyn, 19, and her boyfriend Christopher Taylor, 25, longtime friends of his mother, Amy Hancox. They offered to help her care for the boy in 2008.
On December 22, 2008, Boleyn ran to a neighbor in Bilston, southern England, and asked him to call emergency services because Ryan slipped in the bath and hit his head.
“There was a baby lying on the bed naked with scratches on his face, and his eyes were like foaming. It was a pretty traumatic sight to see,” Adrian Mitchel said.
“I stuck my fingers in his mouth and pulled his tongue out and rubbed his back until air came out. He burped and I waited for the ambulance to come.”
When doctors saw the extent of Ryan’s injuries, they knew they were not caused by a simple fall and they contacted police. Ryan died in the hospital of cardiac arrest a few days later, on Christmas Eve.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how the couple humiliated and degraded the child.
He was made to lick spilled soup from the floor and shouted at so loudly that he wet himself.
Police believe a friction burn to his nose was caused by his face being rubbed into his own urine on the carpet.
Hancox maintained she had no idea of the torment inflicted on her son, citing her long friendship with Boleyn as a reason to trust her.
“My crime was naivety … since Dec. 24, 2008, I have suffered agonising depression, self loathing, tremendous guilt and loneliness.”
—Agencies