Parents who murdered their 10-month-old son jailed for life

Two parents, who were found guilty of murdering their 10-month-old baby, have been jailed for life.

It comes after a four-month long trial, which ended last month (April) in which a jury heard how Finley Boden had suffered a shocking catalogue of injuries at the hands of his parents.

Today at Derby Crown Court, Stephen Boden has been sentenced to a minimum of 29 years in prison, and Shannon Marsden, a minimum of 27 years in prison.

In the early hours of Christmas Day 2020 paramedics were called to a house in Holland Road, Old Whittington, to reports that ten-month-old Finley Boden was unresponsive.

His parents, Stephen Boden and Shannon Marsden, told paramedics that he had been poorly – with a high temperature, cough and a cold.

Following the 999 call at 2.27am paramedics arrived within five minutes and Finley was rushed to hospital but doctors were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead at 3.45am.

A post-mortem was conducted which found that Finley had died as a result of multiple fractures and infective complications as a result of his injuries.

When his body was examined, he was found to have 71 bruises, and two burns, that had been caused during multiple, separate assaults.

Further examination found he had suffered 57 fractures including 17 fractured ribs, a fractured collarbone, wrist, shoulder, left thigh bone, right shin bone and both thighs.

A specialist paediatrician who reviewed Finley’s injuries was of the opinion that none of the fractures could be explained by normal events – and that it was her belief that Finley was in “severe and protracted pain” prior to his death.

Boden and Marsden were arrested immediately.

In interview they both denied causing the injuries to Finley – as well as denying any knowledge about how the dozens of fractures had occurred during the 39 days that Finley had been in their care.

Both Boden and Marsden were evasive with medical and social care professionals following Finley being returned to their care.

Prior to him being returned to the care of Boden and Marsden, Finley had been seen regularly by professionals and was found to be developing well and was healthy – within five weeks he was dead.

"Neither of you have shown any remorse at all for what you have done", the judge said, as she handed down life sentences with minimum terms of 27 years for Marsden, and 29 years for Boden.

A juror from the trial pointed to the sky as the sentences were passed, while another wept and others smiled.

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “The cruelty and abuse inflicted on Finley leading up to his tragic death was appalling and heart-breaking.

“The death of a child in such brutal circumstances leaves many of us asking questions and we await the Child Safeguarding Practice Review to establish exactly what happened and any ways in which Finley could have been better protected, in order to help prevent future tragedies.

“We know that babies and our youngest children are particularly vulnerable to abuse and completely reliant on the adults around them for care and protection. Nationally the Government must takes forward the changes recommended by previous reviews and experts to transform the child protection system and ensure the different agencies involved are able to work together effectively to focus on children and babies like Finley.

“It’s also crucial that everyone does all they can to prevent child abuse. Anyone who has concerns for a child’s safety should contact the local authorities, the police or the NSPCC Helpline."

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