Two sadistic parents who murdered their baby boy just weeks after he was returned to their care have both been jailed for life.
Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden were sentenced to 27 and 29 years respectively at Derby Crown Court for the “savage and prolonged” murder of their son, Finley Boden.
The pair inflicted 130 separate injuries on the 10-month-old before his fatal collapse in 2020, including 71 bruises, 57 bone breaks and fractures, and burns.
Finley had fractures to his collarbones and thighs, while his pelvis had been broken in two places, possibly from sustained “kicking or stamping”, with injuries likened to a multi-storey fall.
He also had two burns on his left hand – one “from a hot, flat surface”, the other probably “from a cigarette lighter flame”.
In a statement from a relative of one of the defendants, read by Mary Prior KC, they said that Finley had suffered “the most horrific abuse” and labelled his parents as “monsters”.
Handing the pair life sentences at Derby Crown Court on Friday, Mrs Justice Amanda Tipples said the pair were “persuasive and accomplished liars” who inflicted “unimaginable cruelty” on their son.
She said: “You both knew that Finley was very seriously ill and dying… yet you deliberately failed to seek any medical help for him and you made sure that he was not seen by anyone that could have rescued him and taken him away from your care.
“He was subject to repeated abuse on multiple occasions. Once the injuries had been inflicted, Finley’s daily experience was one of considerable pain, distress and suffering.
“It was obvious to both of you by December 16 that Finley was very seriously injured, and he was utterly miserable.
She added: “By the evening of December 23, he was plainly dying. There was nothing subtle about this at all. It was plainly obvious to both of you.”
Immediately before she passed the sentence, the judge said: “Neither of you have shown any remorse at all for what you have done.”
The pair showed no emotion and remained silent during sentencing, while family members wept in the public gallery as Mrs Justice Tipples detailed the horrific abuse they inflicted on Finley.
He had been in the care of Boden and Marsden for just over a month after a Family Court deemed they did not pose an unmanageable risk to their son in the weeks before his murder.
In a statement, a relative said: “I thought they had both changed. I was obviously wrong and they only showed us what they wanted us to see.
“They acted together to inflict all his injuries and then hide him away and allow him to die in such an awful way.”
They added: “Neither of you have shown any remorse. We as a family have grieved, but you haven’t needed to, as you are both responsible for his death.
