The Misery Machine - 2+ Hours of the UK's Worst Parents & Caregivers (TMM +)

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

This week, Drewby and Yergy take a look at some of the most disturbing and heartbreaking cases of child abuse in recent UK history. The stories you're about to hear involve the worst failures of parental duty imaginable, cases that shocked the nation and prompted urgent questions about how children are protected.We'll be discussing four cases: Debbie Leitch, a vulnerable woman with Down's Syndrome who was horrifically abused by those entrusted with her care; Finley Boden, a baby just 10 months old who never got the chance to live, failed by the very people meant to love him most; Sara Sharif, whose case became one of the most harrowing child murder investigations in British legal history; and Lola James, a little girl whose short life ended in unimaginable suffering.Support Our Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PayPal: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join Our Facebook Group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram: miserymachinepodcastTwitter: misery_podcastDiscord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#themiserymachine #podcast #truecrimeSource Materials Available Upon Request.

Hey guys, this is our official compilations channel. If you want to check out our newest videos as soon as they're uploaded, then check out our main channel, The Misery Machine. Deborah Ann Leach, also known as Debbie, was born in June of 1995. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person

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Eastings, a seaside borough in East Sussex, England. She was the daughter of Thomas Leach and his then-wife Elaine Clark. Debbie had Down syndrome, which made her heavily dependent on her parents for her well-be being. Those who knew her described her as a gentle soul who loved to laugh and connect with others despite the communication barriers that her disability sometimes posed. She loved watching Disney films, playing with family pets, and spending time outdoors whenever she could. Hugs and smiles were abundant when Debbie was around, traits that became her signature. Looking at her photographs, you could see that she had fair skin, fine blonde hair, and often wore a pair of maroon glasses

slipping down her nose, always with a bright smile on her face. As Debbie grew into her teens and early adulthood, she blossomed socially. She was described as a quiet, shy yet playful girl who was still outgoing with people she got to know. But life at home, unfortunately, was often problematic. This was mainly because her parents' relationship had fallen apart when Debbie was just a toddler. Tom, Debbie's father, separated from Elaine in 1997, admitted difficult. divorce, reportedly after Elaine had an affair.

Elaine was awarded custody of Debbie and her sisters while Tom was granted visitation rights. Tom said that he appealed the decision, but social services decided that with their help and support, Elaine would be able to take care of Debbie and her siblings. Tom, however, felt that Elaine was an unfit mother. He believed that the system had made a mistake by automatically assuming that his children belonged with their mother. Elaine eventually went on to have a fourth child from a later relationship. Each of the four children had either a learning or physical disability that required extra care. Social services in East Sussex, where the family lived during Debbie's early years,

knew the family well, and there had been ongoing concerns about Elaine's parenting skills in the home environment, as well as about some of the men in Elaine's life after Tom. Multiple agencies have been involved with a family when Debbie was a child, creating a patchwork of support plans and welfare checks. Still, Elaine retained custody and Tom found it harder and harder to see his children. He said Elaine even remarried at one point after their divorce and thereafter did everything she could to stop him from seeing them. Debbie adored her father.

He recalled how her face lit up every time she saw him. Sadly, those visits became more and more infrequent because Elaine started to keep the kids away from him. In 2014, when Debbie was 19, Elaine packed up and moved the family from his. Hastings where Tom and the other relatives live to Leeds. She wanted to be with her new boyfriend, Robert Bruce, who lived in Rothwell near Leeds. There, the new couple and the kids would live together as a family. This move effectively distanced Debbie from her father and from the Sussex social workers who had been monitoring the family for years.

However, it seemed that the change was benefiting Debbie at first. While in Leeds, Debbie enrolled in a local college special education program and also attended a daycare center for adults with disabilities. Those programs gave her structure, friends, and professional oversight. By all accounts, Debbie was flourishing in Leeds. She also had her first boyfriend and enjoyed a degree of independence outside of the home. While in Leeds, Elaine held it together enough to get by. She was receiving state benefits of approximately 215 British pounds per week,

specifically to care for Debbie. Family members seem to suggest that Elaine was, was lazy and selfish as a mother, often more focused on her own wants than the needs of her children. Then in August of 2016, after about two years in Leeds, Elaine moved the family yet again. This time roughly 100 miles away to Blackpool, a town on the northwest coast. They moved into a small terrace house at 15 Garden Terrace in Blackpool's South Shore District. Obviously, when they relocated to Blackpool, Debbie's supportive routines went away. Blackpool Social Services were not deeply familiar with the family's history and had to rely on Elaine's word and any records that were transferred over.

From 2016 onward, Elaine was Debbie's full-time caregiver, paid by the government to look after her vulnerable adult daughter. She did not enroll Debbie in any daycare programs or take up college classes in Blackpool. Debbie suddenly became isolated at home, entirely dependent on her mother's care. neighbors on garden terrace saw Debbie outside less and less over time. Some didn't even realize an adult daughter lived in the house. Behind closed doors, the care that Debbie desperately needed was slowly being taken from her. Debbie's extended family still cared about her deeply. Cousins, aunts, and of course her father back in Sussex tried reaching out.

In early 2018, these relatives started hearing troubling reports. Debbie's health was declining. she lost weight and didn't want to leave her room, and Elaine offered a string of excuses. Things like, Debbie had a skin condition. Debbie was prone to rashes, or Debbie didn't like going out and so on. In April of 2018,

the first concrete evidence of serious neglect surfaced. Debbie was brought to Clifton Hospital in St. Anne's near Blackpool for a severe skin outbreak, where doctors diagnosed her with Norwegian scabies, a highly contagious and painful skin infection. Norwegian scabies, also called crusted scabies, is often associated with unclean conditions or a compromised immune system, and it caused thick crust and itching over her skin. Medical staff provided treatment and medication. They also gave Elaine instructions on follow-up care at home and schedule subsequent appointments, none of which she came back to the hospital for.

Each time, Elaine had an excuse, car trouble, scheduling conflicts, and anything she could think of. Later in 2018, friends and family who visited the Blackpool House saw more worrying signs. Debbie's skin condition persisted. She would scratch herself raw and her skin looked red, cracked, and sore. At least once, one of Debbie's sisters confronted their mother, urging her to get proper help for Debbie's deteriorating health. But Elaine reacted defensively. According to the sister, Elaine snapped that she should mind her own business,

dismissing the concerns about Debbie. During this period, Debbie's father remained largely out of the loop. Living in Hastings, he maintained occasional contact with Debbie over the phone. Once Debbie expressed a longing that broke his heart to recall, she said, Dad, is there any chance I can come back to Hastings and live with you? Debbie was an adult by then, 23 years old, and in theory could choose where she wanted to live. But her down syndrome meant she was not fully independent and such decisions would have to involve. social services first. Tom, not understanding the full urgency, advised her to hang in there until

she was 25, thinking that perhaps by then it might be easier to arrange a move or that she might change her mind after the rough patch was over. Later lamented that if he had known what was going on, he would have jumped in his car and gone to save her. The late summer of 2019 marked the final horrific downturn in Debbie's life. By July of that year, 24-year-old Debbie was severely malnourished, bravely ill, and living in filth. Outsiders who visited the Garden Terrace House were often kept from seeing her. On July 26, 2019, one of Elaine's relatives decided to check on Debbie in person. This was her niece, a woman named Sammy Muggeridge, who had grown increasingly alarmed by reports filtering through the family about Debbie's health.

Sammy showed up unannounced at the Blackpool home. There, she saw Debbie lying on a filthy stained mattress on the floor in a dark room. The stench was overwhelming. Sammy said she could only describe it as the stench of death filled the air. Scattered around the room were piles of dirty diapers and half-eaten takeaway food containers, some molding, which was evidence that Debbie had been left eating in her room and inconstant without proper cleaning. In the dim light,

Sammy claimed that Debbie looked like a ghost of her former self. She was painfully thin, and her skin looked awful, red, scabs, and patches of what looked like an infected rash of source covering her body. Debbie's once long hair had been cut off unevenly to manage her scabies infected scalp, or simply out of neglect. She was dressed in stained night clothes

that had stuck to her because of the unwashed dirt. lying there, Debbie was barely able to move and was crying out in pain calling Mommy, Mummy. Sammy turned to her on Elaine and begged her to take action. She warned Elaine that if she did not get her help, Debbie wasn't going to survive for much longer. Elaine was annoyed at the accusation that she wasn't taking good enough care of her daughter. Still, with Debbie right there, lying in her own filth, she scrambled to do the bare minimum to get Sammy off of her back. That same day on July 26, 2019, Elaine contacted a general practitioner from Whitegate Health Center, who's the local doctor's office, and arranged for an emergency home visit.

Plus, Sammy called Blackpool Social Services to raise a safeguarding alarm as soon as she left the house. And the general practitioner arrived later on, Elaine tried to camouflage the situation. Knowing the doctor was on the way, she hastily tidied up some of the mess and attempted to clean Debbie. According to the GP's testimony, Elaine put Depp. Debbie in the shower and tried to wash off the evidence of neglect. Debbie screamed throughout the shower.

The pain on her skin must have been excruciating. With open scabies, rashes and sores, having water and soap hit her skin, would have been very painful. But Elaine managed to present her in a slightly more presentable state by the time the doctor examined her. Debbie, who was likely exhausted and frightened, was propped up on the living room sofa, freshly bathed and wearing clean clothes. This superficial cleanup was enough to fool the doctor. doctor. Doctor noted that Debbie looked thin and unwell, but when Elaine confidently explained that her daughter had a skin infection for which she was providing creams and that Debbie was eating and

being cared for, the doctor took her at her word. He did not observe the bedroom, nor did he see the full extent of the scabies underneath Debbie's clothing. Concluding that there were no immediate concerns, the GP prescribed some antibiotic cream and arranged to return for a follow-up visit on August 12th. Before leaving, the doctor also talked to Blackburn. pool social services about the visit, and they were set to respond soon. Social workers attempted a surprise visit to the Garden Terrace House in July 29th, but they were prevented from entering the property by her relative. Social workers left and returned the very next day, determined to see Debbie, but they were still unable to see her. By the time of the rescheduled visit on August 1st,

Elaine had again prepared for this. She brought Debbie downstairs, cleaned and dressed to meet the officials. Debbie had now become skinny and as one social worker noted, she looked very slight, but Elaine was good at pretending to be an attentive mother. She cheerfully told the visiting social workers that Debbie was doing really well and that she was eating fine and spending more time downstairs. Social workers looked into Debbie's bedroom, which was now cleaned and aired out, and they saw nothing that was lacking. The workers noted that the young woman appeared to be unwell and underweight. Since the doctor had recently visited and there was a plan for a follow-up, they did not raise an alarm at that time. Elaine had successfully masked the ongoing neglect.

After this, the social services team scheduled yet another review visit for September 2nd. But throughout August 2019, Debbie's condition continued to worsen. Away from the attention of social services after August 1st, Elaine apparently resumed her pattern of neglect. Neighbors on the quiet residential street recalled hearing disturbing sounds coming from the house in the middle of the night. One neighbor reported hearing a young female voice crying out mummy, mummy in the early hours during that last week of August. It is believed that in those final days, Debbie was confined to her bed, too weak to walk. Her body infected, covered in soars, and slowly starving. Elaine later claimed she didn't realize how bad it had gotten. At the same time,

she admitted that she spent her days online shopping and taking care of her own needs, buying herself handbags and shoes while her daughter was covered in filth upstairs starving. The money that came in each week for Debbie's care was being used by Elaine herself. By the evening of August 29, 2019, Debbie had passed away. At 10.40 p.m. that evening, a panicked call was finally placed to emergency services. Elaine told the operator that her daughter wasn't breathing in apparent cardiac arrest. Paramedics from Northwest Ambulance Service rushed the address on Garden Terrace. They found Debbie lying on the bedroom floor in an unnatural curled up position.

It was clear to the responders that she had been dead for some time. In fact, medical evidence suggested that Debbie probably passed away a day and a half earlier, meaning Elaine may have lived in the house with her daughter's body for well over a day before asking for help. The paramedics were shocked by Debbie's appearance in the overall environment of the home. They could not tell at first glance whether the person on the floor was male or female, because Debbie's once feminine features were hidden because of the neglect she suffered. Her face was completely covered in scabs and thickened skin from the untreated scabies, to the point where she was no longer recognizable as a young female.

Her hair was thin in falling out in patches. The smell of decomposition in filth hit the first responders instantly. Paramedic John Wilkinson, upon seeing Debbie up close, was shaken. He would later recall that he found a live maggot on or near her body when he tried to move her. The room itself was back to the filthy, unlivable state that Sammy had witnessed. Worse, actually. Investigators later described plates of rotting foods spread all around in piles of feces covered clothing and bedding all around.

the mattress. Debbie's physical condition was unbelievable. She weighed only 52 pounds, which is about a third of what a healthy woman her age should weigh. In fact, the family remembered that just a few years earlier in Leeds, Debbie had weighed about 141 pounds while living a healthy life. One police officer said that Debbie looked like a skeleton when they found her. Her ribs and joints were visibly pointing outwards under her skin, and she had open sores and infected crust over 30% of her body from scalp to feet. Her clothes were filthy. She was dressed in a stained jumper in trousers, and when paramedics began to cut the fabric away to try to resuscitate, bits of her skin came off with a cloth because it had literally stuck to her body. They found that

she had been wearing an adult diaper that was heavily soiled, which suggested that she had been left in her own waist for a long period of time. The scabies mites were still present, as rescuer saw tiny mites crawling all over her back and on her bedding. The skin on her face, especially around her eyes and scalp, was described as thickened, scabbed, and raw. The souls of her feet were also covered in rashes and scabs. It was clearly an extreme, untreated scabies infestation. Needless to say, nothing could be done to revive Debbie. Paramedics and arriving police officers realize this was not a rescue, but a potential crime scene. The postmortem examination that followed would officially record Debbie's cause of death as severe amaciation and neglect,

with a severe scaby skin infection contributing to her death. Law enforcement treated the case with the seriousness of a homicide. Major police investigation named Operation Nevada was launched by Lancashire Police's force major investigation team. Investigators swarmed the Garden Terrace House, documenting the horrible conditions and collecting evidence. Elaine was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing her daughter's death. In total, police interviewed six individuals of suspects during the early phase of their inquiry. This included Elaine and her partner, Robert. Four people were arrested at first, though identities aside from Elaine and Robert were not made public.

It may have included family members or others who had been at the house around that time, people who had witnessed the neglect but done nothing about it. Over the next year, detectives compiled the convincing timeline and forensic record of negligence. In March of 2021, about 18 months after Debbie's death, authorities made a big announcement. Two people were being charged with manslaughter in connection with Debbie's passing. Those individuals were Elaine and Robert. Each of them was charged with gross negligence manslaughter. Robert also faced a separate charge under UK law, causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult since he was a member of the household during the period of Debbie's

worsening condition. In July of 2021 at a preliminary hearing, Elaine pled not guilty to the charge of of unlawful killing. She was scheduled to stand trial at Preston Crown Court in early 2022. Robert also pled not guilty to his charges, and so a trial date was set for February of 2022. However, in December of 2021, Elaine changed her plea to guilty. She had finally admitted that her neglect had directly caused Debbie's death. Meanwhile, Robert never went to trial either. At the same hearing in late 2021, the Crown Prosecution Service decided to drop all charges against him. The exact reason was not explained, but it is speculated that the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to convict him. Then, on February 24th of 2022, Elaine appeared on the dock of the

Preston Crown Court for her sentencing hearing. The details of Debbie's suffering were recounted in full detail before the judge, Justice Amanda Yip. Debbie's father, Tom, attended the sentencing. He had traveled from Hastings, and at one point, he broke down in tears as the judge reviewed what happened to his daughter. Elaine, on the other hand, showed little emotion in court. When given the chance to speak, she offered no real apology. She was ultimately sentenced to nine years and seven months in prison for the gross negligence manslaughter of her daughter. Under UK law, Elaine would be required to serve at least two-thirds of her sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

With time served, she could be eligible for release around 2028. Many in the public and Debbie's family felt that the sentence was far too lenient. Tom openly criticized the outcome, asking if that's all his little girl's life was worth. You know, why did she die? Why? What was she like? She was lovely. You know, she wouldn't have a soul. You know, she's...

She used to love sitting in the mirror brushing her hair. We never talk to her again. Even if she's done her time to us, she should have got life. Lice for a life, you know. He met with his local member of parliament to push for a review of the sentence. The case was referred to the Attorney General under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, but the sentence was not increased. The court decided it fell within the acceptable range for manslaughter.

Elaine was sent to a woman's prison, likely his majesty's prison style or another facility for female offenders in the northwest. The case also prompted an independent safeguarding adults review, taken on by the Blackpool Safeguarding Adults Board, to look into what went wrong and to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. In the review, which used the pseudonym Jessica for Debbie, the findings were blunt. There had been missed opportunities across the board. carers, social workers, and medical staff had been too willing to accept Elaine's explanation and her ability to play along. It concluded that Debbie's death had been avoidable if the warning sites had been acted upon sooner

and more decisively. Debbie's family in Hastings mourned in their own way. Tom, who was clearly heartbroken, kept fighting for justice in Debbie's name. He gave multiple interviews to the press determined that the world recognized Debbie as more than just a victim by talking about her personality and her bright spirit, and I hope that we've done that justice in this video. Debbie's body was held for some time by the coroner and forensic authorities. It was eventually released to the family after the postmortem and initial inquiries were completed. Debbie was cremated, and her father fought to be given some of her remains. In the end, he received

half of Debbie's ashes. He decided to lay his portion of her ashes to rest in a place filled with personal meaning. He buried them beside his father, Debbie's grandfather. Years later, during a pre-enquest session on May 8th, 2024 at Blackpool Town Hall, it was announced that Tom had passed away before the inquest could move forward. His absence was especially saddening, considering how deeply he had sought answers about his daughter's death. The hearing also confirmed that Elaine had refused to take part in the proceedings. Though the court previously reached out and the prison was made aware of the inquest, Elaine had chosen not to be involved. The inquest meant to look into the circumstances surrounding Debbie's final months, moved ahead without two of the most central figures, and

unfortunately led to no real conclusions. But people did not forget about her. To mark one year since her passing in August of 2020, supporters online organized a wave of light vigil. People were asked to light a candle at a set time in Debbie's memory and post a photo of it. Dozens of photos of lit candles appeared on Facebook with messages like, for Debbie, may you rest in peace. I think the first thing that needs to be said when talking about Debbie... This episode is brought to you by Palm Olive. Family time isn't just the big moments.

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You can watch the record-breaking phenomenon at home. You're clearly. Working it. Zootopia 2. Now available on Disney Plus rated PG. The case is that many people wrongfully refer to this as a child neglect case. And I thought it was a child neglect case too. And I think that we're doing Debbie and other adult disabled.

disabled victims a disservice if we don't talk about it for what it is because some of the ways in which Debbie was taken advantage of related to the fact that she wasn't a child. Right. So in normal cases, CPS might be involved in a situation like this with the child that has a disability. And I know like in our comments, we'll probably get where was CPS? Well, CPS is not going to be involved with it because it is adult. She was 24 at the time of her death. Yeah, she was 24. And in a lot of cases, unless some sort of complaint has been lodged,

adult protective services are not going to be involved either. That makes sense. Yes. And now this was a UK case. So there's some laws here that we might not be aware of. And if you know them better than us, please let us know in the comments. But, you know, I tie this back to Katarina Witten, who we covered recently. who other people thought was a child, too, when talking about it,

or most notably Lacey Fletcher, who fused to the couch. That's how it was in the headlines. So if you remember that case, you probably remember it like that. Some people thought she was a child, too, when they first read about it. The thing that really strikes me, there's a lot of sad things here about Debbie, but when she was 23, she said to her father, I want to live with you. And as an adult, you have the option to live wherever you want to. Now, I don't know in the UK if her being legally disabled barred her from having that option.

But I would think that if she was able to put that forward to social services and knew how to speak out and her dad knew the proper channels to go through, she very well would have been able to live with him. Right. even if she had the same opportunities that she had when she was in Leeds, whether she was still in her college programs, the day programs with all of her friends. At that point, even if she couldn't communicate well, she could at least communicate to somebody so that the wheels would be turning and they could get the ball rolling for her to do that. Absolutely.

And in most situations where an adult has to speak out, people would say, well, if you don't know, then that's on you. But this is a disabled adult. And because of that, somebody has to properly advocate for her and let her know she has those choices. I mean, she obviously could communicate well enough and had enough sense about her to be able to know I would rather live with my father. So I would hope that if she put that forward to somebody that she would have gotten that option. And a very interesting connection that I've noticed with a lot of the cases of people with disabilities we've covered recently is the frequent. of which there's hoarding or insect infestations.

So if we look back to Katerina Witten, there was cockroaches of where she was being eaten by them. She couldn't even see that she was being eaten by them. You know, late Lacey, there was like a rat infestation. She was getting bitten by rats. Christina Pangalangan, she was still a child, but there's bedbugs all over the house. Heather Bainer, that was a whole other situation

with a lot of different filth going on. So it's very interesting. It makes you like wonder, like, you know, should adult protective services be involved just to check the welfare? And I know there's a lot of different hurdles with that. There is a chance that the government could use it to control whether people get benefits or not. And that's not what we're like advocating for, but just to make sure as a baseline that, you know, people are okay. Yeah.

I mean, with disabled children or children that are on social services, CPS's radar, they're supposed to be routine check-ins or proper consistent documentation. but it appears based on our research, especially these cases, if this is a disabled adult, that need for documentation and check-in is very little or doesn't exist at all. I would think that most people who are parents of disabled adults would do what is necessary for their disabled adult children, but this is where we find situations where they fall through the cracks. And, you know, again, we're in running this channel and with what cases people are recommending us, I'm seeing patterns that I didn't know were there before starting this channel.

I didn't know that there was this number of disabled adults that are being harmed or neglected and just falling through the cracks and nobody knows anything about it until it's too late. And so it's like, what do we do for them? I don't know if I have any like quick concrete answers for that. I don't either. It's just extremely sad. And I think that there just needs to be some sort of oversight for that. And what's really depressing about this as well, on top of everything we've already discussed,

I found I found this information out in post when we were finishing the editing up. Debbie's dad learned about her death via Facebook. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we found Emily Pike's case, her mom. Yeah, same situation. Yeah, it's, that was the first time I think I found or researched a case where a parent has to find out about their child's death through social media.

And what a bizarre thing to even consider. You would think that wouldn't be the case. How we know of it is that the news can't even report on something like that until the family's notified. So why wouldn't that be the case here? And now within a span of like a month, we have found two cases where the parent finds out on social media. I can't imagine what it feels like to be a father and find out that way. And nobody have the decency to give you a call, especially a dad that wanted to do everything right for his daughter. Her dad was a victim of the fact that the courts felt that Elaine was a better fit caretaker for Debbie.

And Tom, much to his credit, appealed the decision, explained and presented reasons why he felt she was an unfit mother and an unfit caretaker. And there comes a point where you as a parent fight and fight and fight, but at the end of the day, the courts will dictate what you're able to do. And unfortunately, that was the case for him. And my heart breaks for him. This is a case we've been watching very closely for the past few weeks waiting for the result of the court trial. There are many people who have asked us for coverage on this, and I'm thankful to say that as of today, the absolute scum responsible have been brought to justice. This story is a prime example that the failures of child protective services aren't just a problem here in America, but a problem that we see in many other areas of the world.

I want to give a special shout out to Katie who first brought this case to our attention, without anything further, this is the heartbreaking story of Sarah Sharif. Sarah Sharif was born on January 11th, 2013 in Slough County, County Berkshire, England to parents Irfan Sharif and Olga Dolman. Sarah had long brown hair, big brown eyes, and a sweet smile. She loves singing, dancing, and playing the guitar. Herfond was of Pakistani origin, but had moved to the UK on a student visa in 2003 to business management in London. At the time of our story, he worked as a taxi driver.

Olga was originally from Poland and spoke very little English. The pair met in Poland and Erfond convinced Olga to come back to the UK with him. The couple married in 2009 and soon gave birth to Sarah's older brother a year later. As he's a minor, we'll be referring to him as Z throughout our story. Sarah also had another sibling born after Z that will refer to as you, although not a lot is known about them. Things didn't remain happy in their Sharif household for long. Erfon and Olga separated in 2015 and quickly divorced. Sarah and you originally resided with their mother, but in 2019, custody was awarded to Irfan. From there, they were whisked away. First, to a tiny two-bedroom council flat in West Byfleet, then to a bigger

semi-detached council house on Hammond Street in Horsal. There, Sara and Yu lived with her new stepmother, 30-year-old Beanish Batul, Irfan's 29-year-old brother, Faisal Malik, and four other children that the media described as belonging to the couple. Erfon had met Beinish after picking her up in his taxi while still married to Olga. Because Olga objected to her children being raised in the Muslim faith, her ex-husband cut off all contact. But in 2023, Sara was allegedly bullied at school for wearing a hijab. up, after which she was pulled out of class and homeschooled by her stepmother. But we all know how that goes. And as we'll find out later in our story, it had nothing to do with bullying. On August 9th, 2023, emergency services received a 9-99 call that was placed from Islamabad,

Pakistan. On the call, a man confessed to the dispatchers that I've killed my daughter, and it wasn't my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much. He claimed that his actions were intended as punishment, coldly admitting, I'm a cruel father. That man was Erfond Sharif, who had fled England with his wife, brother, and five surviving children. In the early morning hours of August 10th, Sarah's body was located at the family's Hammond Road address by the Surrey Police. She had been placed underneath a blanket in her bunk bed. All of the adults in the home were immediately named persons of interest due to not only the 999 call, but a three-page note that was left. behind that read as follows. I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her, but I lost it.

My daughter is Muslim. Can you bury her like a Muslim, maybe? I will be back before you finish the post-mortem. Whoever sees this note, it's me, Erfon Sharif, who killed my daughter by beating. I am running away because I am scared. But I promise that I will hand over myself and take punishment. Love you, Sara. At her autopsy five days later on August 15th, Sarah presented with numerous severe injuries that the medical examiner noted had been inflicted over time. 10-year-old girl was covered in more than 70 separate injuries, which included human bite marks, scalds on her feet, bruises, a burn on her butt that was caused by placing a hot

iron onto her skin, a broken hyoid bone, a puncture wound of the head, a traumatic brain injury, 11 spinal fractures, and other numerous injuries to her fingers, shoulder blades, and ribs. She also had injuries that showed evidence that Sara had been restrained. It would later be revealed that Sarah had a hood placed over her head before being beaten with a metal pole on a cricket bat. There were so many injuries that was impossible to figure out which of them actually caused her death. On September 12, 2023, police raided a home in Jalim, Punjab, Pakistan, belonging to Erfond's father. There, they were able to locate Erfons five surviving children who were unharmed, and subsequently placed into foster care.

On September 13th, all three adults were arrested at London's Gatwick Airport after flying back home by way of Seattle caught in Dubai. It should be noted that there is no official extradition agreement in place between the United Kingdom and Pakistan. On September 14th, Irfan Sharif, Beanish Batul, and Faisal Malik were arrested in charge with the murder, along with an additional charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. When Beanish was interviewed by the police, she didn't have a ton of useful things to say. Please, could you introduce yourself? What's your name?

So my name is Beanish Patole. And you are about to be interviewed for the offence of murder. What's your understanding of murder? What's your understanding of that offence? Killing someone? Yeah. Okay, so it's intentionally killing somebody. Okay, in very simple terms, okay?

That's the offence which you've been arrested for, and that's the offense to which we're going to speak to you about, all right? What happened to Sarah? No comment. What did you see? No comment. Whose choice was it? How you left Sarah?

No comment. You know, Dawn's just said, as you said in the video, you want to come back to the UK, clear your name in the UK courts. Well, here we are. This is the start of the process. So why would you not speak to us now? No comment. Who did that to Sarah? No comment.

Do you love Sarah? No comment. Did you care about her at all? According to Urfan's father, Mohamed Sharif, as a stepmother, Benish Batul's behavior was not good with Sarah, and she always used to scold her constantly. Sara had complained to Urfan about Batul's behavior, and she, Batul, denied it and said the children are lying. They all remained in custody ahead of the hearings at both the Guilford Magistrates Court

in London's Old Bailey via video conference. In December of 2023, all three adults pled no. not guilty to all charges. The jury was sworn in on October 8th, 2024, with a trial beginning shortly thereafter. On October 14th, the prosecution shared with the court the 9-99 call that Earth on place after landing in Pakistan, claiming that he legally punished his daughter. We'll play that for you now. Sorry, police, how can I help?

Hello? Hello, how can I help? Oh, no, I couldn't say, can you write on my address, please? Hello? Hello. Yes, hello. Is everything okay? Hello, can you... Nothing is okay. Can you write on my address, please?

I don't understand what you're saying. Can you write on my address, please? Okay, what's your postcode? G2. Yep. Forty-two. Hango called back. Tango, Quebec?

Okay, what's happened? What number? What number? Number six. Okay. Take a deep breath. Take a deep breath and tell me what's happened. I cannot.

I've been legally punished my daughter and she died. I have left to have a panic. God, she is allowed. I need you to take a breath because I cannot understand what you're saying, okay? Your daughter has died. I killed my daughter. I killed my daughter. Okay.

Hello. Hello. Yes, hello. I can't you go to number six, the Hammond Road, please. Okay. Don't worry. Nobody's at home. Hello.

Hello. I'm still here. I'm still here. I'm still here. Can you get someone there? I left the mic. I left my front door keys under the front mat. Okay.

My daughter is dead. Who's killed your daughter? It's me. Okay. How? I feel he was naughty. I'm going to need you to slow down. Okay.

How have you killed your daughter? I beat her up. It wasn't my attention to kill her, but I beat her up too much. Okay, where is your daughter now? She's number six. Okay. Where are you? I'm left the property. I'm going to come back.

Okay. What's your name? What is your name? My name is Rufan Shreve. Can you spell that for me? Is you an umbrella? Uh-huh. R for Romeo. Yep. I for Freddie, A for Alpha, N for November.

Sorry, you are... F-A-N. Okay, second name, please. Shreve, F-S-S-S-H-H for Hotel, A-A-L-A-L-A-L-A-R-R-Mew, I for Indigo, F-O-F-E-E-E. Brilliant. Can I get your dated birth? Sorry, my date of birth is 25-11-81.

Hello. Hello, I'm still here. I'm just rising all of this down. Can you send someone my daughter? Yes. Yes, don't worry, don't worry. Nothing's going to be slowed down, okay? What is your...

Okay, okay, I need you to slow down, okay? What is your daughter's name? Sarah Shre? Okay, I need you to slow down. Okay, how do you spell your daughter's name? S-A-R-A-A-A-R-A-A. S-A-R-A. S-A-R-A?

Yeah. Yep. Oh. And she used her name, S-H-A-R-I-F. Okay, was her date of birth? 11th after January, 2013, she's only 10 years old. Like so. 2000 and what?

13. Okay, what happened? What led you to, what led to this all happening? I think he was naughty over the last, she four weeks and I was giving her punishment that she'd to sort her out. And just, I did something and she died. Was she breathing when you left? No, she was that I tried to investigate, I try to give her CPR, You know, CPR, everything but I shared, I left in panic.

Okay. Was she bleeding anywhere? No. Okay. She is bad, I'm telling you. What injuries did she sustain? How long ago was this? How long...

When did this happen? It... I need you to listen to me, okay. When did this happen? About 36. About 36. This happened 36 hours ago. Yes.

I'm a cruel farmer. I'm going to come. Where are you right now? I'm not around. I'm going to come back. So you're still, you're driving right now? I'm driving. Okay, what is your registration number? I left my...

Okay. It's Alcon Lima. Yep. Yep. 5-7. Freddy, Nick Cajali. What sort of car is it?

It's BMWs. I left that at Heathrow car park. Terminal 3 on the top floor. Sorry, what was that? My car is at Terminal 3 short start.

Sorry, what car are you in right now if you're not driving your car? I mean someone else car please I'll come back would you please send someone there? No don't worry we are already deployed this is not slowing anything any of this down okay whose car are you in Who's car are you in though

In someone else car please I'll come by Is anyone else at the home with your daughter No one's at home No one is at home. Okay. Do you know the... Yeah, don't worry. We're already sending officers on the way. Okay.

What, do you know the registration for the car that you're driving? No. Whose car is it? It's my son's car. I'm not... Could you please go there? I'll get back to you soon. I'll hand over myself. I'll come to walking free station. walking free station. No, you need to go back to the address now. Okay, you need to go back to the address.

I will. Okay? So where are you? I know you said you're driving, but can you see a road? Where are you right now? I cannot give more detail. I promise I'll come back. I'll find, I'll face the distance. I need to know where you are. Okay. I like give me a landmark give me anything where are you do you know what's town you're in I don't know okay so if you live in Woking are you driving through Guilford are you driving through West Byfleet are you driving through Aldershot where are you driving right now at the trial the gloves came off with Beanish's lawyer Caroline Carberry claiming that Irfan had a sham marriage with Olga because she was Polish and thus a member of the EU

Attorney Carberry inferred that Erfan was targeting Polish women because he was looking for a pathway to European citizenship. In fact, according to Beanish, Erfon had gotten married to a second Polish woman at some point, took her passport, and locked her up. Thankfully, she escaped. On December 11, 2024, both Erfon Sharif and Beinish Batul were found guilty on all counts. Faisal Malik was found not guilty on the charge of murder, but was found guilty. of causing or allowing the death of a child. On December 17th, they were back in court for sentencing. There, Sara's mother Olga shared the following victim impact statement with the court.

Sara was always smiling. She had her own unique character. The only thing I had left to give my daughter was to give her a beautiful Catholic funeral that she deserves. She is now an angel who looks down on us from heaven. She is no longer experiencing violence. To this day, I can't understand how someone can be such a sadist to a child. Addressing her ex-husband and his new wife, she said, You are sadist, although even this word is not enough for you.

I would say you're executioners. Justice Kavanaugh condemned the pair for not showing a shred of remorse and describe Sarah's treatment as nothing short of torture. The full video is over 49 minutes long, and is available to view in our show notes. We'll play a portion for you now. The marks were consistent with restraints being used. In other words, with Sarah being tied up.

Many of these injuries had tram line markings which showed that she had been beaten with an elongated object. You, Erf and Sharif have admitted to beating Sarah on a number of occasions with a metal pole, part of a high chair. The pole was found at the property after Sarah's death. You also admitted to beating Sarah with a cricket bat, which was also found at the property. At one stage you admitted to doing this multiple times, but then you changed your evidence would only admit to doing so once.

I have no doubt that in fact this was a regular occurrence. In addition to the 71 fresh injuries, the medical experts found a total of 25 separate fractures to the bones in Sarah's body. Folks knew the Colonel approved of his new honey-chilly crisp and jalapeno ranch sauces the moment he tasted them and said, That's right. No notes. Just absolute silence. Turns out some flavors don't need explaining. They just need dipping. It's saucy season at KFC with new honey, chili crisp and jalapena ranch. Get dipping with a boneless bucket today. Prices in participation vary. about investing, but I really didn't know how to go about it. Meet Corey, a Walthfront client.

With Wealthfront, it could put money in, and it would automatically distribute it into a diversified portfolio. Then it starts to compound. The compounding compounds on the compounding. Just let it wrong, and it's great. Over 1 million clients trust Wealthfront. Get started at Wealthfront.com. Client was paid $1,000 for their testimonial, creating a conflict of interest. Outcomes vary. Investment management and advisory services provided by Wealthfront Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. Investing involves risk to principle regardless of the strategy used. Task performance does not guarantee future results. These included a fractured collar bone, two fractured shoulder blades, fractured ribs, a fractured humourous,

11 separate fractures to her spinal column and fractures to bones in both of her hands. This is not a case of a single episode of maltreatment, therefore. This poor child was battered with great force again and again. Some of the injuries require special mention because they demonstrate the almost unbelievable torture to which Sarah was subjected in the last weeks of her life. The medical experts identified a fracture in the hyoid bone in Sarah's neck. This is a very unusual injury and was the result of very vigorous and energetic manual strangulation, quite possibly on more than one different occasion.

Sarah sustained a serious brain injury a few days before she died as the result of a blow to her head. In addition, when she died, Sarah had opened burn wounds on the bones of the inside of each ankle. The only possible explanation for this, as is made clear by the medical evidence, is that Sarah's ankles were tied and then either her feet were wrapped around a hot pipe or, more likely, boiling water was poured on her ankles. Once again, the wounds had not been treated and no medical help had been sought for Sarah. The post-mortem investigation showed that Sarah had six fight marks on her body. Five of them were on her left arm and one was on the inside of her left thigh. The marks were made by an adult.

You, Erf and Sharif and Faisal Malik and Sarah's older brother, each provided teeth impressions and each was excluded from being responsible for the tooth marks. You, Ben Ashputal, declined to give a tooth impression, and the only possible inference is that it was you who made these bite marks. Though the bite marks were not in themselves fatal injuries, the fact that you were prepared to assault Sarah in this way provides an insight into the extent to which you were complicit in and uncomfortable with the abuse that Sarah was suffering.

But the medical and forensic evidence does not stop there. It is absolutely clear that in the last few weeks of her life, Sarah was tied up. She was trussed up with masking tape and with skipping rope. Even worse, she was hooded. Plastic bags were put over her head, which were then held in place with masking tape, and a hole was ripped in the plastic bag through which she could breathe. This treatment of a 10-year-old child is nothing short of gruesome. It is hard to imagine how terrifying it must have been for Sarah especially as the treatment was at the hands of her own parents. In the end, Justice Kavanaugh sentenced Erfahn Sharif to a minimum term of 40 years in prison,

Benish Batul to 33 years in prison and Faisal Malik to 16 years. Libby Clark from the Crown Prosecution Service shared the following words after the sentencing. Sara Sharif was a lively and joyful 10-year-old girl whose life was tragically cut short by the very people who should have protected and cared for her. The evidence in this case painted a devastating picture of the suffering Sarah experience leading up to her death and the campaign of abuse she was being subjected to in her own family home. Her injuries revealed the extent of the cruelty inflicted upon her

while the defendant's actions after her death demonstrated a shocking disregard for her life as they attempted to flee the country to evade justice, thinking only of themselves. Whilst her father and stepmother were responsible for subjecting Sarah to horrific abuse, her uncle took no action to stop her report. This has been an incredibly complex and distressing case, and it is thanks to the tireless work of the prosecution team, Surrey Police, international partners, and the CPS International Unit that we were able to secure justice for Sara. I also want to thank the jury for their careful consideration of the harrowing evidence presented in court.

Today's sentences reflect the cruelty and gravity of their crimes, and while no sentence can bring Sarah back, we hope this outcome is able to provide some small comfort to all those that knew and loved her. But long before Sarah's tragic death, there were clues to Erfond's violent past that could potentially save Sarah's life if the complaints were taken seriously. In fact, before Sarah was even born, the police and social services were already a part of the family's lives. Records indicate that between 2010 and 2012, there were already four calls to the couple's home for reports of family violence. In 2010, Surrey County Council Children's Services became involved due to reports of violence and neglect directed at Sarah's older brother Z. That same year, Z was found abandoned in a shop. Also that same year, Erfahn was arrested for assaulting both Olga and Z. Yet the little boy so hard that he left a handprint on his back.

In 2011, reports alleged that Z told his teachers that his father hit him. Following year, he claimed that it was his mother. He was found with burn marks on his body, and once again, he was abandoned out on his own. This time, he was located at Wokingtown Center, wandering around half a mile from his home. Social workers noted additional injuries. on Z's body as well as on U's body who had been born by this time. I also noted that the children's bedrooms lacked light bulbs and bedding. In 2013, Z suffered a very familiar burn, been burned by a hot clothes iron, much like Sara would be

years later. And Sara was born that same year, she was immediately placed under a care order. This gave the police and social services legal responsibility for the three children in the Sharif home. In November of 2014, Sara and her siblings were briefly placed in the foster care after her Brother Z claimed to have been bitten by his mother and pinched and punched by his father. Although Olga and Erfond claimed there were chickenpox scars, the foster parents noticed cigarette burns of both Sara and Yu.

In 2015, both Erfond and Olga were in court for a custody hearing. Olga accused Erfon of beating her in the kids and claimed that he was violent and controlling. Although it was never mandated, Erfon agreed to take part in family violence courses and counseling. Should be noted that prior to Erfon even meeting Olga, he was accused of intimate partner violence in false imprisonment by two separate ex-girlfriends, one in 2007 and one in 2009. It is unclear if either of these partners were the imprisoned Polish women we mentioned previously, but it is alleged that one of these ex-girlfriends was a minor. In total, Irfan had been arrested

on at least five separate occasions for his behavior. At the same year, Sara and Yu returned home to the family, and Z remained in foster care. According to the BBC, Zee never went back home with Erfond and Olga. Sara was in foster care once more in 2015 after Olga left Erfond, alleging that there was family violence. It was around this time that the couple separated for good and Sara began living with her mother full time. Due to his history, Erfon was only allowed supervised visits. Everything seemed to calm down for the family up until Easter of 2019. It was then that Sara confessed to Erfon that her mother had been hurting her. She told her father that Olga had tried to burn her with a lighter, had slapped her, pinched her,

pulled her hair and tried to drown her. Erfond videotaped this confession and submitted it to social services. It is unclear if this confession was coached. In October of 2019, custody of both Sara and you were awarded to Erfon and his new wife, Beanish, despite his five arrests and previous police and social services involvement. It should be noted that the judge that awarded custody to Erfon was the same judge that had taken part in all of the Sharif family hearings from 2013 to 2015. and was well aware of the type of man that Irfan was.

By January of 2023, Sara began wearing a hijab to school to try to hide her bruises, but it didn't work. By March, mandated reporters were making calls to social services, but sadly, the case was dropped in a matter of mere days. The following month, Beanish pulled Sarah out of school, and the violence only intensified in the last weeks of her life. She was forced to take care of all of the younger children and treated as a maid in her own home. Sara was singled out for being a girl, Olga's girl.

She was smart, sassy, feisty, and spirited. She wasn't submissive like Erfond wanted her to be, and she stood up to him. Sara was referred 15 times to social services in the course of her lifetime, but sadly, it wasn't enough to save her life. Sarah was a brave, feisty and spirited child. She was not submissive as you wanted her to be. She stood up to you. You considered that her behaviour entitled you to chastise her physically. And I have no doubt that your ego and sense of self-importance were boosted

by the power that you wielded over her and the rest of the family. Back in November, we discussed the tragic case of Sarah Sharif. If you're not familiar with her story, we'll link the episode in the description in the pin comment for you. We'll give you a short recap before we get into the many updates that have taken place since we released our episode. Sara was a beautiful 10-year-old girl from the town of Woking in the UK. She was born on January 11, 2013 to parents Irfan, Sharif, and Olga Doman, and was of Polish and Pakistani heritage. Her parents ultimately divorced and Erfond gained custody of Sarah and her siblings and ended up in a council. house and horssel with Erfond's new wife, Beanish Batul, and his brother, Faisal Malik.

On August 9, 2003, Erfond phoned emergency services in the UK to let them know that he had killed Sara because, in his own words, she was naughty. He claimed that it wasn't his intention to kill her. He had just beat her up too much. At the time he placed the call, he and his whole family fled to Islamabad, Pakistan. His wife, Beinish Batul, made all of the trials. He had a travel arrangements. All right. Let's go. Where do you want to go, ma'am?

Yeah. And from which airport? And whichever one is. Okay. You travel late, please. And you'll put together tomorrow. Okay. And return?

I see the other. Single. Okay. Okay. How many partners will be traveling? So we just four adults and... Okay. Yeah, so here, ma'am, you have an option with Oman Air tomorrow night, from Heathrow via Muscat to Islaabad.

What time? 8.50 at night, tomorrow night. Anything better in the morning? Is anything in the morning? No, what? Um, in just a minute. The following morning, Sara's body was recovered. Laura's body was recovered by the Surrey police.

She had been placed in her bunk bed and hidden beneath a blanket. In addition to admitting to dispatchers that he was indeed the killer, Erfhan also left a note behind that read. I swear to God that my intention was not to kill her, but I lost it. My daughter is Muslim. Can you bury her like a Muslim maybe? I will be back before you finish the post-mortem. Whoever sees this note, it's me, Erfon Sharif, who killed my daughter by beating.

I am running away because I am scared. But I promise that I will hand over myself and take punishment. Love you, Sarah. Sarah's autopsy told a different story. Erfond may have said he loved his daughter, but when you read the report, I feel it becomes very difficult for Erfond to say he truly loved his daughter. The 10-year-old girl was covered in more than 70 separate injuries,

which included human bite marks, scalds on her feet, bruises, a burn on her butt that was caused by placing a hot iron onto her skin, a broken hyoid bone, a puncture wound of the head, a traumatic brain injury, 11 spinal fractures, and other numerous injuries to her fingers, shoulder blades, and ribs. She also had injuries that showed evidence that Sara had been restrained and tortured over time. Would later be revealed that Sarah had a hood placed over her head before being beaten with a metal pole and a cricket bat. There were so many injuries that it was actually impossible for examiners to figure out which of them actually caused her death.

Sarah's own father, Erfond Sharif, fully admitted that he was chiefly the one who tied Sarah up, put a hood over her head, and beat her with a metal pole that was broken off of a high chair, as well as a cricket bat. Erfond originally admitted to police that he had done this multiple times as a form of discipline book. He later recanted his statement, changing his story to saying it only happened one time. British High Court Justice John Kavanaugh called this fact out during Erfond's sentencing. The remarks were consistent with restraints being used. In other words, with Sarah being tied up.

Many of these injuries had tram line markings which showed that she had been beaten with an elongated object. You, Urf and Sharif have admitted to beating Sarah on a number of occasions with a metal pole, part of a high chair. The pole was found at the property after Sarah's death. You also admitted to beating Sarah with a cricket bat which was also found at the property.

At one stage you admitted to doing this multiple times, but then you changed your evidence would only admit to doing so once. I have no doubt that in fact this was a regular occurrence, at least towards the end. You also admitted to hitting her on the head with a mobile phone. Now let us be clear here, as much as Erfond would like us to believe that he only did this once in a fit of rage, the evidence shows this clearly is not the case. And even if it was true, this isn't as simple as is raising your hand against a child in anger.

This is somebody tying somebody up in a bagged place over her head so he didn't have to look at her and beating her multiple times with a metal pole and a cricket bat. For those in the states that don't know what a cricket bat is, we will put one on screen for you to see. This is not something you accidentally do without thinking. This is a calculated and deliberate act, and Erf on Sharif did this multiple times. It would not shock me if this was the act that was the final straw. for Sara. Again, maybe Erfon in his twisted mind believed that he loved his daughter,

but I think we can all agree there was anything but love taking place in this household, especially when you add Sarah's stepmother, Benish-Betool, and Sarah's uncle Faisal Malik to the mix. Remember the bite marks we mentioned on Sarah's body? There were six in total. Five of these were on her arm, and the six was on the inside of her left thigh. Based on the size of these bite marks, there was no question that an adult was the one who was responsible. So the police were determined to find out who among these three was deranged enough to bite a 10-year-old girl as a form of punishment. So teeth impressions were requested from each of the three perpetrators, as well as from Sara's older brother purely to rule him out. Both Irvine Sharif and Faisal Malik submitted

impressions and both were confirmed to not be the ones responsible for the bite marks on Sarah. Beanish Batul, however, refused to submit her. Therefore, without any other suspects, it can be inferred that it was Beanish who, for whatever sick reason, thought biting her stepdaughter was an acceptable way to discipline her. British High Court Justice John Kavanaugh felt this was more than enough evidence to implicate Beanish and made that very clear during her sentencing. The post-mortem investigation showed that Sarah had six fight marks on her body. Five of them were on her left arm and one was on the inside of her.

a left thigh. The marks were made by an adult. You, Erf and Sharif and Faisal Malik and Sarah's older brother, each provided teeth impressions and each was excluded from being responsible for the tooth marks. You Benash Butul declined to give a tooth impression and the only possible inference is that it was you who made these bite marks. Though the bite marks were not in themselves fatal injuries. The fact that you were prepared to assault Sarah in this way provides an insight and to the extent to which you were complicity and uncomfortable with the abuse that Sarah was suffering. On September 12, 2023, police raided a home in Jailum Punjab, Pakistan, belonging to Erfahn's father. There, they were able to locate Erfons' five surviving children who were unharmed,

thankfully, and subsequently placed in the foster care. September 13th, all three adults were arrested at London's Gatwick Airport after flying back home by way of Seattle caught in Dubai. September 14th, Erfon Sharif, Beanish Batul, and Faisal Malik were arrested in charge with murder, along with an additional charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. Now, when we released our first episode on Sarah's case, we included this following clip that led to a lot of discussion in the common section, basically because Beanish kept saying no comment over and over again. We are fully aware that no comment is the equivalent of pleading the fifth here in the United States. What was curious to us, however, is that she couldn't even say that

she loves Sarah, her own stepdaughter. Sure, maybe she's just following what her lawyer advised her to do, but I truly have a hard time imagining how saying that you loved and cared about your stepdaughter could be something so incriminating. Maybe we have some legal experts in the comments who could share their thoughts because I'd certainly love to know. Either way, we'll share that clip with you now just so you can see what we're referring to. Please, could you introduce yourself what you want to? So my name is Bainish Patul. And you are about to be interviewed for the offence of murder. What's your understanding of murder?

What's your understanding of that offence? Killing someone. Yeah. Okay, so it's intentionally killing somebody. Okay, in very simple terms, okay? That's the offence which you've been arrested for, and that's the offence of which we're going to speak to you about, all right? What happened to Sarah?

No comment. What did you see? No comment. Whose choice was it? How you left Sarah? No comment. You know, Dawnsh just said, as you said in the video, you want to come back to the UK, clear your name in the UK courts.

Well, here we are. This is the start of the process. So why would you not speak to us now? No comment. Who did that to Sarah? No comment. Do you love Sarah? No comment. Did you care about her at all?

No comment. On December 11th, 2024, both Irfan Sharif and Beanish Boutel were found guilty on all counts. Aisle Malik was found not guilty on the charge of murder but was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. After the verdict, the police held the following press conference. Good afternoon, everyone. Much closer? Yeah. Good afternoon, everyone.

My name's Craig Emerson, Detective Chief Inspector for Surrey Police. I've been the senior investigating officer for this investigation. Today, after a 10-week trial, a jury has found Oofan Sharif and Bina Shia. the tool, the father and stepmother of 10-year-old Sarah Sharif guilty of her murder. Faisal Malik, Sarah's uncle, was found guilty of causing or allowing her death. Sarah was a bright and lively little girl who loved singing and dancing, and on behalf of Surrey Police, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to her mother, Olga, her siblings, and all those who knew and cared for her.

Sarah's spirit and bravery and resilience in the face of the suffering that she endured has shone through from the vast inquiries that have been undertaken in this case. Sarah's young life was brought to an end as a result of the brutal abuse and unspeakable violence inflicted on her by Sharif, Batole, which Malik did nothing to prevent. This case has shocked and horrified not only that those who knew and loved her, but people across the country and around the world. On the 10th of August 2023 we received a phone call from Sarah's father in which he told the operator that his daughter had died as a result of his actions. From this day Surrey

Police has worked tirelessly to build a case to prove that Sharif, Boutal and Malik all played their part in Sarah's death. During the trial Sharif took the stand intending to blame Sarah's death entirely on his wife before changing his story to accept some responsibility while still denying murder. Batole and Malik refused to take the stand at all, or provide any explanation what happens Sarah in their police interviews. All three defendants have only ever sought to preserve their own interests throughout this investigation and have shown no remorse for their truly dreadful behaviour. Sarah's death has been one of the most difficult and distressing cases that Surrey police has

ever dealt with. I would like to thank those who came forward to provide information and those who gave evidence in such harrowing circumstances. I would like to thank the jury for their careful consideration of the evidence which has been presented throughout the trial. The murder of a child is absolutely shocking, but the horrific nature of the abuse Sarah suffered during her short life has made this case particularly disturbing. Today, Justice for Sarah suffered. has been served and our thoughts remain with Sarah's mother and her siblings at this extremely difficult time. Thank you very much. What must it have been like? Thank you. Thank you. At the heart of this trial was Sarah Sharif, a happy, outgoing and

lively 10-year-old girl who was cruelly abused and murdered by the two people closest to her. We have all seen Sarah's smile shine out from the photos of her, but everyone involved with this case will always remember that utterly horrendous injuries and brutal treatment she received in the weeks leading up to her death. We cannot begin to imagine the suffering she went through in her own family home. Both defendants denied killing Sarah. However, the appalling truth is that they, along with Faisal Malik, were all living in a small house and were all complicit in what was happening to Sarah. The evidence given by some of the neighbours of the family highlighted their concerns about what was going on behind closed doors, yet none of the defendants did anything to stop or report the abuse

that led to Sarah's tragic death. It has been a painstaking operation by Surrey Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to build this case and be able to prove to the jury that Irf and Sharif and Vainash Batul were both responsible for Sarah's murder. By showing they were there in the run-up to Sarah's death, we were able to prove that both of them played their part in killing her. This case was complicated further by the fact that all three defendants fleeed the country to Pakistan and our CPS International Unit played a significant role in helping us to prosecute this case successfully. On December 17th, Justice Kavanaugh sentenced Erf on Sharif to a minimum term of 40 years in prison, Benish Batulah, the 33 years in prison and Faisal Malik to 16 years.

Sarah's mother, Olga Doman, and her grandmother sat down with the guardian to talk about what it was like identifying Sara's body. They've got a pyjama, she was a coldre, children's, but any mother not doesn't look at any her own left,

and she was new the other side, she had seen her when I'm my child's looking there. There was Sarah, quite

changed, poseniatrana. If I'm someone not said that is Sarah, I would in believe. There's a lot more

to share about the history of this case and Irfon's behavior, but we've done a whole episode on that, which again will link for you down below. Now we're going to get to the updates in the case that have come out since the three adults were sentenced last month. So according to the BBC, the Guardian, and many other news outlets, pretty soon after Erfon and Company were jailed, their fellow inmates decided to exact their own form of prison justices as a revenge for Sara.

On New Year's Day of 2025 at London's Belmarsh Prison, two inmates took it upon themselves to attack Urfan in his cell with a piece of a tuna can. He suffered cuts to his face and receive medical treatment at the prison hospital and survive the attack. The killer dad of 10-year-old Sarah Sharif is terrified of returning to his prison cell after he was slashed in the neck and face with a jagged lid of a tin of tuna. Erfan Sharif, who was ambushed by two inmates, fears others could target him in further attacks. Forty-three-year-old Sharif was assaulted on New Year's and then treated in the healthcare unit of Belmarsh Prison in South London. Justice sources of today told the son he may now have to be segregated for his own safety.

However, Sharif, who was given a 40-year minimum term for the murder of Sara, cannot be kept away from other inmates indefinitely. And one source told us, Sharif is terrified and now fears other attacks. He is not yet back on the wing and will be in no rush to return. Now, a big question that came up in the comments was if canned goods were actually allowed in prisons because that seemed to be a bit of a security issue. Some folks even believed it to be fake news because they've never heard of such a thing. Since neither of us have ever been to prison and couldn't tell you if canned goods are allowed,

we decide to reach out to our good friend Google for an answer. We actually found a couple of different answers so it looks like this depends on where you're from. One source indicated that yes, canned goods are typically allowed in U.S. prisons, but there are some restrictions. Can goods must be commercially packaged, airtight, and hermetically sealed. They must also not require any cooking. Other restrictions indicate that canned goods must be 16 ounces or less and cannot be in glass containers. Beverages must be in cans, pouches, or boxes, and are no larger than 32 ounces. Meats must be pre-cooked, cured, smoked, or cold-cut.

Seafood must be cooked, cured, or smoked, and without shells. The food items in question can be purchased at the prison commissary, and for states that allow it, brought in during a visit. Now, according to thegov.uk-Uk website, which is most important in this case since it took place in the UK, inmates are indeed allowed tin food items that are to be kept at designated places specific by the prison administration. So for those listening outside of the UK, Belmarsh Prison is classified as a category A jail and is located in southwest London. According to some sources, the prison has been described as Britain's Guantanamo Bay.

This is due to the long-term detention of terrorism suspects without charge. It's said to house some of the most dangerous prisoners in the nation, so I don't think it comes as a surprise that some of them might have taken issue with Erfon and what he was there for. Belmarsh or Hellmarsh, as it's known to inmates, is also the home of Grindr Killer Stephen Port, whom we covered many years ago. We'll be sure to link that case for you as well if you're interested in some of our older episodes. Before we go on making Erfons attack or a hero, we should probably talk about who he is and exactly what he's in Belmarsh for. Erfon was attacked by 45-year-old Stephen Sansom, who murdered a 38-year-old woman named Sarah Mayhew. He and his co-defendant, 49-year-old Gemma Watts, then proceeded to dismember the woman with power tools and dispose of her body in various locations around southwest London.

Some of her remains were recovered in a park in Croydon by a dog walker, while others were recovered from the River Wendell. It's unclear how Miss May you was killed, but at autopsy, it was discovered that she had bruising to her skull, two fractures to two vertebrae near her voice box, and had her head shaped. Stephen pled guilty to murder as well as perverting the course of justice. He pled not guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.

However, this wasn't even the first time Stephen had killed someone. On Christmas Eve of 1998, he stabbed taxi driver Terrence Boyle in the throat. Mr. Boyle, who was a father of two children, staggered to a nearby house for help, but died on the doorsteps. Stephen was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison and was released in December of 2019, barely having served his minimum sentence. So although Stephen did what a lot of you would like to do to Irfan, he is still clearly an evil person. But this isn't the only update that's come across our desks.

There's actually two more we've learned about just this week. Being in the U.S., it can be difficult to keep up to date with the news going on in the U.K., especially if it's an emerging case or didn't make international headlines. Again, we have to thank our friend Katie over in the UK for keeping us abreast of the situation as it unfolds across the pond. On January 20th, the BBC posted an article indicating that the Solicitor General decided to appeal Erfon Sharif's sentence. Now, for those unfamiliar with what that is,

a Solicitor General oversees all civil and criminal appeals to ensure quality and consistency and becomes personally involved in selected cases. There's more to it, but this is the simplest explanation we can give. The current Solicitor General in the UK is Lucy Rigby, who was appointed by Prime Minister Keir Starmor. Now, an appeal might make you initially have cause for concern, and that's understandable because here in the U.S., this normally means the accused is trying to overturn their sentence.

However, that's not what's happening here. Lucy Rigby actually found that Irfan's sentence of 40 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole to be too lenient for what he did. I think many are in agreement here. I personally would be quite happy if Erfhan Sharif never saw the light of day again. She referred the case to the Court of Appeal, and according to a spokesperson for the Attorney General's office, it is now for the court to decide whether to increase the sentence.

Erfond himself is also attempting to appeal a sentence, and a court date has yet to be set for either appeal. In other news, an appeal was one to name Sarah Sharif's family, court judges. This was announced on the BBC on January 24th. The family court judges in question are the ones who gave Erfon Sharif full custody of Sari in October of 2019. This is the same judge who had overseen the family hearings from 2013 to 2015. The judge in question was fully aware of Erfond's five prior arrests in his history of violence. The court was also aware at the time of multiple romantic partners further alleging that Erfond had falsely imprisoned them in addition to his

violent behavior. According to the news source, Mr. Justice Williams ruled in December that the media could not name the judges involved in the historical family court cases related to the 10-year-old, as well as social workers and guardians due to a real risk of harm from a virtual lynch mom. This might sound strange as judges aren't normally provided anonymity in any of the cases we've covered, but according to the BBC, the judges had concerns given the often inflammatory nature of public and media commentary. However, the BBC and other news outlets weren't satisfied with that, nor should they have been. They managed to appeal that decision in the interest of transparency. As of the 24th, the Court of Appeals ruled that the unnamed judges must be revealed within seven days. It's been noted

that two of the three judges have conveniently retired in this time. According to Sir Jeffrey Voss, who is the master of the roles in England and Wales, in the circumstances of this case, The judge had no jurisdiction to anonymize the historic judges either on 9 December 24 or thereafter. He was wrong to do so. We're going to keep an eye out for updates as they become available. I don't think this is a if they become available situation because look how many updates have come out in just one month. Now here in the States, it's rare for a case in the UK to be so easily accessible. We've both had people who aren't interested in true crime bring up Sarah's story with.

us. So with this being such a high profile story, it's very unlikely that it will fade into obscurity like so many murders we've covered. At the very least, we'll know in about a week the names of the judges involved and will probably post some sort of update when that information is brought to light. We don't normally do update episodes like this, but we made an exception because of the number of requests we received to make one. So let us know if this is something you'd like to see more of going forward. But until then, we love you and stay safe out there. Hey, everyone.

We don't normally post an update after the fact, but as of today, January 31st, 2025, the judges involved in the Sharif family court proceedings have been named, and they are. Judges Allison Rayside, Peter Nathan, and Sally Williams. Now, Peter Nathan and Sally Williams have since retired, but Allison Rayside, who dealt with the majority of the hearings,

to Sara, including allowing both Sarah and her siblings to remain in their parents' care remains an active judge. Lola Patricia James was born in Wales on September 30th, 2017 to parents Chenet James and Daniel Thomas. She had an older sister born in March of 2014 and a baby sister born in May of 2019. Lola's maternal grandmother, Nicola James, said the toddler had big, sparkly eyes and soft blonde curls, and that she gave the best hugs. She had an open smile

and sometimes wore her hair and short pigtails tied with a bow. Though she was shy around strangers, her family said she was feisty, outgoing, and bold. Nicola called Lola her cheeky monkey, who grew into a charming, smiley, bubbly, mischievous little girl. Her grandmother recounted a time

that captures the cheeky side of Lola's personality. She had asked to paint her figure nails and was told no, but that didn't stop the digital. termined toddler. A few minutes later, there was a bright red nail polish on her feet, ankles, all over her hands. It was everywhere. Though it was likely a bit of work to clean it all up, Nicholas says she smiles when she remembers how independent Lola could be. Lola loved dancing, singing, and playing with her dollhouse. She and her big sister sometimes stayed up late

pretending to be the princesses and Frozen. She loved the movie Who Frayn Roger Rabbit, and her favorite snack was monster munch corn chips. Her father Daniel said, even as a toddler, she loved the outdoors and everything there, the birds, bees, and butterflies. She loved eating homegrown strawberries and apples from her grandmother's garden and going on butterfly hunts. Her grandmother said, she was happiest when she was caked in mud, getting into her shorts and wellies.

Her father described her as, bright as the golden sun. She was beautiful, charming, and cheeky. Her laugh would fill the room with her. with pure joy. Shanade and Daniel's relationship was over not long after it started. He was described as a loving and attentive parent to Lola from a distance, but he wasn't involved in Shanade's life after Lola was born. Sheenade, her daughters, and the family dog lived in a single family home in Haverford West,

a small town in the southwest of Wales. Visitors to her home described it as sometimes messy and smelly with diapers and clothes all over the place. Pictures of the bedroom that the girls shared showed cheerful wallpaper and paint curtains, but also a mess of clothes and toys strewn everywhere with an empty soda can and old popsicle sticks among the clutter. After Daniel, Chenade got into another relationship, but he was a violent man, and it did not end well. The DV incident occurred in her home, and he was reported, and Shanade stopped seeing him. And much like a report of DV in the United

States might trigger a CPS investigation, in Wales, the local branch of the National Health Services was notified. The high-way. The annual DA Health Board submitted a multi-agency referral in an effort to get mental health and other services to Shanade and her girls. The agency didn't release her prior records, but did say the local authority had significant involvement with the family over the years. In January 2020, health visitor Leslie Stedman met with her at her home and discussed her situation. Now, health visitors do some of the work that a caseworker might do in the states. Leslie's job was to evaluate the cleanliness and safety of her home, write a report, and refer for services.

Shanade identified herself as a victim of DV, so Leslie offered her education on DV in its related dangers, including the risk it posed to children. The next month, on February 10th, Leslie stopped by the house for another face-to-face visit with Shanade and the children, with this time we're five years, two years, and eight months old. She noted the house was cluttered, dirty and smelled damp. She was concerned that She need couldn't keep up with the housekeeping. She said Lola looked like she needed a bath and her feet were dirty. Now, like many two-year-olds, Lola was a handful and her mother was struggling to care for her.

Evidence of this struggle can be found in her text history. In one, Shinnade described Lola as a terror. She said, she don't sit still. She beats me up. She had enrolled Lola in a program at Flying Start to help with her behavior. In a later text, Sheenade said Lola was doing my head in and threatened that if Lola didn't start behaving,

she'd throw her out the window. She'd told Leslie about the stress Lola was causing. She said there was something wrong with the girl because she was very demanding. She thought Lola might have ADHD. Leslie offered parental support from a nurse along with speech therapy for the toddler, but Shnade refused the help.

Again, Leslie went over the tips for recognizing a person who might commit DV, and she told Shanade not to invite adults into the family home if she didn't know them well or if they used alcohol or drugs. Sheenade did not mention any new romantic partners, though, it is possible she had already met her next boyfriend. He was exactly the kind of person Leslie was warning her about. Later that same day,

She dated her general practitioner, Dr. Annaline Holliday. She told the doctor that watching her, watching Lola was exhausting. She said the toddler stayed up until 2 a.m. every night and would throw her food back at her. She also complained of the flashbacks from the DV which caused her to be tearful sometimes. The doctor prescribed antidepressants, which Sheenay would later say worked well for her. Sometime in February, Shnade got a friend request over social media from a complete stranger named Kyle Bevin. She accepted and the two began exchanging messages. Kyle described himself as a a recovering crack and spice addict, though he still drank alcohol and used amphetamines,

Xanax, Valium, and weed. So his recovery seemed quite limited. He had a young daughter from a previous relationship, but he wasn't in contact with her. Though Shannade said she was, in her own words, frightened of every man because of her history as a victim of DV, she thought Kyle would be her protector. Within hours of their first conversation, they began a relationship. Reports vary, but Either the day after they started talking or just a few days later, Kyle moved in with Chenade and her three vulnerable children. It was not long before the girls started accumulating injuries and bruises, especially Lola, who was still too young to clearly explain what was happening to her.

In April 19th, Kyle was awake while Shnade was asleep upstairs, sent a message saying Lola tripped over toys while coming down the stairs at 2 a.m. He had said that she had smashed her face and got a bloody nose. In April 26, Shnade noticed Lola had a scrape on her chin. Kyle explained it away as Lola just falling and he called her a crazy kid. Shanade said Kyle was really good with Lola. She said he would cook her dinner. You would do stuff with her.

He was always buying her stuff she didn't need, but he would treat her. Sometimes Kyle seemed to enjoy the children, but at other times his mood shifted and they frustrated him. One message, he talked about buying Lola presents and said she was fun to be around, but in another, he said, too many kids in the house, just doing my head in. When he was in a bad mood, he was nasty and intimidating. Under ordinary circumstances, health visitor Leslie Stadman would have returned to the home in April. However, the world events of 2020 soon made that impossible as lockdowns were imposed in Wales and around the world. She still kept in touch via telephone, but She would not tell her that Kyle had moved in, and she didn't mention

Lola's injuries. The text from May 4th showed Lola acting out, possibly to indicate she didn't like Kyle in the way he hurt her. Shnade saw Lola spitting at him and making a horrible noise. Lola also screamed while Kyle was with her. At night, the violence escalated and Lola ended up with a cut lip. Kyle claimed she fell off her bed, saying she was standing in her cot and she dropped to the floor really quickly.

She bit her lip on the way down. I tried to help, but she kicked off. Told Chenade, I feel like you don't trust me anymore. He also told her, Lola needs to get used to me, babe. I am not the devil. I think the world of that little girl. Of course, Junaid believed his excuses. May 10th, the baby, Lola's younger sister, had a black eye.

Casey Morgan, who is Shnade's best friend and neighbor, was disturbed when she saw it, so she took a picture of it. Casey asked what happened. Sheenade said the baby had an accident while Kyle was watching her. Casey did not like Kyle and told Chenade to get rid of him, and she didn't want him around her house or her kids. By May, Chenade knew that Kyle regularly took strong tranquilizers and often used other drugs. She admitted they both took amphetamines together,

but claimed she only participated when the children were out of the house, staying with her mother or other family. May 14th, Kyle took Xanax and flew into a rage. He used a hammer to smash up the house, including the light switches in the kitchen. tried to headbutt Sheenade and scared she gathered up the children and ran to Casey's house. They spent the night there, but the next day Kyle did what abusers always do. He acted contrite and apologized, sent a message that said, I feel like a monster, and asked Shanade to forgive him.

Casey begged her to stay, but Shanade and the children went home the next day. She let Kyle continue living there, and she kept leaving him alone with the kids. A few days later, her cousin visited and told her that the house was so dark, and cluttered that social services might get involved. Kyle again flew into a rage and got aggressive with her cousin who quickly left. On June 8th, the health visitor of phone to ask how she and the children were doing. She nay told her that she had another adult living in her home, but lied and said it was a female person. She didn't report her new relationship or any of the recent injuries to the children,

and she concealed the state of her home. Conditions in the home continue to deteriorate. Shnade and Kyle often argued about Lola, and the arguments got heated. In one message, he told her to, Come get your fucking child. While in another, it was Shnade who was angry at him for keeping Lola up all night. She message, what's up with you? She needs to be in bed.

It's 4 a.m. He replied, it was one fucking night, Shnade. She was falling asleep while playing and I was going to carry her up. I wanted to give her a cuddle to sleep, but you f***ed it up. Given his increasing violence towards Lola, it's chilling to imagine what he might have been doing with her in the middle of the night. On June 11th, she and Kyle argued and he grabbed her arm. She texted a friend and said, I'm done. I'm finished with Kyle. I'm not putting up with it. I have kids to think about.

She messaged him saying she was sick of his drug use and told him to, get out. Kyle replied saying, Fuck you, you lying, cheating childish cuss. Despite his physical and verbally abuse, Shnade backed out and let him stay. And she kept insisting that Kyle was not a danger to her children. On July 5th, Casey saw Lola at the park and noticed bruises on her legs. There was no indication that Casey discussed her observation with Shnade and she did not call the police. Shnade was angry with Kyle that day, but not because of what he was doing to Lola.

He was angry about the way Kyle was treating her. At the same day, she told him to get him. out again. She texted, what you are doing is a form of DV. I know I've been through it. When he refused to leave, she let the matter drop. She didn't call the police or ask for any help evicting him. Two days later on July 7th, she and Kyle were outside in the neighborhood pushing the baby in her stroller. She and his friend Casey was outside as well. In anger, Kyle shouted, and pushed the stroller with the baby inside into a busy road. She made his friend. She had to dive into the street and pulled a baby out of oncoming traffic.

Shaken, Shanaid asked Casey if she and the kids could spend the night again. Casey agreed and Shnade left the baby with her while she went back into the house to get the other children. Before Shnade got back, Kyle showed up. Casey said he was, in her own words, foaming by the mouth. His eyes were huge and he didn't look good. He was aggressive and it was really scary. A few minutes later, Shnade and the children arrived, looking petrified. They managed to enter Casey's home without further incident, but the next day,

Chenade again forgave Kyle. She took the children back home and continued to let him watch them. On July 9th, Shanade received an ominous warning via social media. The grandmother of Kyle's daughter, not his mother, but the mother of his ex-girlfriends, had heard Kyle was living with She reached out to her mom to mom because she thought Chenade should know that Kyle had physically hurt her daughter in her granddaughter in the past. She told Shanade he was a child protection risk. She said, I'm concerned about the fact that he's around your children. Chenade asked Kyle's mother, Alison Bevin, about the claim. Allison said it wasn't true and, just like that, on the word of someone who was likely biased

in trying to protect her son, Shanade dismissed the warning. even though just two days before, he pushed her baby out into traffic. Later that day, Lola's face and nose were hurt quite badly, and again, it happened while Kyle was alone with her. Kyle blamed the family dog, who was an American bulldog named Jesse. He said that Jesse pushed Lola off the couch and face first into the coffee table. Concerned that Lola's nose was broken, Junaid asked a couple of the neighbors to look at it. Notice Lola also had marks on the side of her neck as if someone had grabbed her there. They said she needed to see a doctor immediately, but Shanaid lied and said that she had already

seen a doctor. Later, Kyle told her that his mom looked at Lola through a video call and said she was fine. He also told Shnade that his mom was a nurse, but that was not true. Although she did work as a health care assistant, she was not a nurse. It is unknown whether the video call ever happened, but Shnade believed him, and never took Lola to the doctor. In fact, she didn't take any of the children to the doctor for the injuries they suffered while Kyle was there.

The next day, Shnade left Kyle alone with Lola and the baby. She texted him, You don't need to tell me what you're doing with them. I do trust you with them. Day after that, on July 11th, Lola had another accident while Kyle was watching her, and Shnade texted, don't feel bad. Although Shnade has never explained,

something must have happened during the next. five days because on July 16th she asked for Kyle's birthday and told him she wanted to run a Claire's law check on him. Claire's law, also known as the DV disclosure scheme, was implemented in 2014 by all police departments in Wales. Named in honor of Claire Wood, who was murdered by her partner, it allows the police to divulge information they have about dangerous people likely to commit DV. Kyle refused to give Shanade his date of birth and said, I don't have to give it to you. It won't find anything on me.

Still, even with her suspicion aroused, she did nothing to remove Kyle or her children from the home. That night, her mother was supposed to watch Lola, but Nicola Calden said she was feeling too sick. Sometime between 7 and 8 p.m., Chenade went to bed and left Kyle alone downstairs with Lola. Kyle said he took several pictures of her using Snapchat filters and then put her to bed.

A few minutes after midnight on July 17th, Shanade was woken by a loud bang and heard Lola screaming. She went to the children's room and found Kyle holding Lola by her bed. He told her, she's all right, she banged her head and, I've got this. Without comforting Lola or looking at her head, Sheenade believed him and went back to bed where she fell asleep. Over the next four hours, Kyle beat the toddler, causing multiple injuries. At 4.26 a.m., he took pictures of bruises on her back.

In the image, she was still conscious and able to sit up on her own. Temporary tattoos, the toy kind that are sometimes prizes inside of cereal boxes, were visible on her arms. Sometime after taking the picture, he continued the assaults. Two hours later, around 6.30 a.m., he Googled the phrase, My two-year-old child had just taken a bang to the head and gone all over. limp and snoring. He also searched for loss of consciousness. At 637, he took a screenshot of a website on his phone. The image he captured clearly states that if a child has symptoms like excessive bruising, swelling, or loss of consciousness, he should call for an ambulance immediately. But he didn't call

for help. In the next two minutes, he took more photographs of Lola, who cannot sit up on her own and appears to be unconscious. The photos her head, eyes, and lips were extremely swollen and bruised. At 640, he calls his mother Allison, but she doesn't answer. He sent her the photos of Lola, but she was asleep and didn't see them until she woke up at 6.55. When she saw those photos, she texted that Kyle should take the toddler directly to the hospital. But instead, he propped his phone up so he could film a gruesome 22-second video. in it he lifted the unresponsive girl up and tried to get her to stand on her feet he let go molla fell back to the floor with an audible thud picked her back up and set her on the couch and said she's gone she's gone he sent the video to his mother at

658 but his mother claimed she didn't watch it at 7 a.m she texted him again saying he should wake Shanade up and get emergency help. She messaged him repeatedly over the next 13 minutes. Kyle did not respond. Instead, he tried to cover up his crime by putting Lola in the bath and dressing her in new night clothes. Around 7.20, he woke Shnade up and told her that an ambulance was on its way because Lola was all limp and had fallen down the stairs.

He held out his finger and showed her a piece of Lola's tongue that he said she had bitten off. but no ambulance was on its way because he had still not called one. At 728, almost an entire hour after he googled unconsciousness, he asked his mother to call an ambulance. 729, Allison called emergency services. In her call, she said, she's a two-year-old and she's got ADHD. She has fallen top to bottom down the stairs and they can't wake her up. She's unconscious.

She also said the girl was floppy and had a massive, lump on her head. She said her son didn't call because he didn't have credit on his phone and the dispatcher told her they don't need credit to call the emergency line. 730, Chenade also placed a 9-99 call. She told the dispatcher, she's fallen down the stairs from the top of the stairs to the bottom. Her head's all swollen and she's bit the top of her tongue off. When asked why she fell, She said, The bloody dog I have. It just barged her and she fell. While Sheenaid was on the phone, Kyle took more photographs and videos of Lola unconscious and snoring on the couch. Around 7.34, ambulance and paramedics arrived. Kyle told paramedics, I think the dog tripped her over,

that she had fallen down the steps. They noted the girl's face was swollen and badly bruised, and she appeared to be wet. She was not wearing a diaper underneath her pajamas, which was unusual because she wore one to bed. She was badly hurt and unconscious, but she was still alive. She was rushed to the nearby Wiffy Bush Hospital by ambulance. After a short discussion with the police, Kyle and Chenade went to the hospital. Shnade's mother and Lola's father, Daniel, soon joined them there. Kyle became aggressive when the doctors asked how Lola got her injuries and threatened to rip up their notes. He also got into an argument with Daniel and challenged him to a fight. Everyone else was heartbroken and distraught, but Kyle didn't even pretend to be sad.

When she was stabilized, it was clear she needed specialized treatment. Lola was transatlified. for to Noah's Ark Children's Hospital in Cardiff about an hour away. Janade and her mother followed her to the second hospital, but Kyle, on the other hand, decided to go home. Kyle didn't answer the door right away when officers stopped by at 11 a.m. When he finally let them inside, they saw he had been vacuuming the living room floor, which seemed suspicious given the general disarray and dirtiness of the rest of the house.

Every room was cluttered, clothes on the floor, and items on every flat surface. Even the stovetop had open cereal boxes sitting on the burners. A table in the living area was crowded with cigarette butts, empty food wrappers, and cleaning products. Despite the mess, the bathtub was spotless and looked like it had been recently cleaned. During a search of the property, investigators found gray child's pajamas in the corner of a living room. The pajamas were wet, covered in vomit and bloodstained. The police asked if he had a mobile phone and Kyle said he didn't.

When officers heard it ringing and found it hidden under a blanket, they made him hand it over. He repeated his claim that the dog must have pushed her down the stairs. He said he was downstairs making coffee when Lola woke up and walked to the top of the stairs naked. He said, I assume she ripped her nappy off before you question me on that. He asked her if she wanted some cereal and went back to the kitchen to fix her a bowl. I could hear footsteps on the ceiling upstairs, and next thing I heard was two or three. massive bangs. Boom, boom, boom. I came running around the corner and she was on the floor. He said she was out cold and snoring, which he thought meant she was choking on her tongue.

When he checked her mouth, he'd found she had bitten a chunk of it off. He said he moved her to the couch and dressed her because she was cold. He said he attempted CPR by blowing into her mouth. Kyle described Lola as accident prone, a nutcase, and an idiot. He said, she always falls and smacks her face or lacks awareness. He said Chenade fed her ice lollies all the time, constantly ice lollies. He also said Lola was crazy, absolutely crazy. She's a bundle of energy man. They're testing her for ADHD and autism. He was clearly trying to convince them that whatever happened was Lola's fault. When asked why he waited so long to call the ambulance, he said, I had to stop her chewing on her tongue, put her on the sofa, put clothes on her and put the dog out.

I sat next to her and prayed really. He described his relationship with Shanade as pretty good and said he often went through her phone to keep an eye on her. When police interviewed Shanade, she also told them Lola had two left feet and that she doesn't sleep and falls over everything. She said Kyle was amazing with Lola and she didn't believe for a second that he would have hurt her.

However, her opinion changed after police showed her the video Kyle had taken of Lola's unconscious body falling to the floor with a loud thud. After watching it, she said she felt sick and wanted to punch him in the face. She said, if he can do that, what has actually happened to my baby? Later that day, around 3.15, Kyle texted Chenade that they needed to make sure their stories match, saying they needed to be bang on. He texted, they think we hurt Lola.

She fell down the stairs and the marks are from when the dog jumped up on her. It happens all the time. Later, he wrote, I would never hurt her like that. I really hope you know I'd done everything I could. At 434, police arrested Chenade at Noah's Ark Hospital and suspicion of child neglect. 437, they found Kyle at a neighbor's house and arrested him as well. Both were questioned and subsequently released. Four days later, on July 21st, Lola died as the result of her injuries.

She was only two years and 10 months old. Her father Daniel stayed by her side during her last days. It said, The guilt I feel lives inside me and will never leave. As the memory of Lola lying in a hospital bed fighting to stay alive will remain with me always. After Lola passed, the police went back to the house to question the couple again. Shunay was erratic and panicking when she answered the door. They described Kyle's behavior as agitated and obstructive.

When police explained they just needed to make sure nothing. nothing dodgy happened and they were just doing their jobs, Kyle was confrontational. He replied, You chose to be a copper. Both Kyle and Chenade were arrested again in January of 2021, this time unsuspicion of murder and released on conditional bail. On April 21st, 2022, they were arrested a third and final time. Kyle was charged with murder in causing the death of a child. He was held with no bail. Chenade was charged with causing or allowing the death of a child. She was put in jail for her own safety after receiving threats from community members. On June 29th, they both pled not guilty.

Kyle was returned to jail to await his trial. Chenade was released on conditional bail. The trial began on March 7, 2023, and was presided over by Sir Martin Alexander Griffiths in Swansea Crown Court. Prosecutor Caroline Rees said Lola had been the victim of a frenzied and extremely violent attack that lasted for six and a half hours. She presented evidence that showed Kyle waited an hour to call an ambulance while he photographed and filmed Lola's dying body. He bathed her to cover up evidence, scrubbing so hard he removed the temporary tattoos applied on her arm.

He also hid her soiled pajamas and likely hid or disposed of the weapons he used in his assault. During his testimony, Shnade called Kyle a monster. She expressed regret saying she wondered whether Lola would still be alive if she had got him out of the house. and I beat myself up every day. He needs to rot in hell. She also claimed to be asleep during the incident, which prosecutors believed in part because they found no activity occurred

on her cell phone during that time. One witness called to testify was Coral Barker who had owned Jesse the bulldog before giving her to Shnade. Coral said Jesse liked cuddles and that she was very well behaved with her four young children. She also said that because of Kyle's accusation,

they were forced to put Jesse to sleep. Dr. Michelle Jardine, an intensive care pediatrician with over 12 years experience with young trauma patients, said that toddler's body was one of the most extensively bruised and battered bodies she had ever seen. Dr. Deborah Stocker, a consultant pediatrician, testified that 101 bruises and scratches all over lowless body were not consistent with an accidental fall down the carpeted stairs. She didn't think that there was a part of her body that wasn't bruised. Many of her bruises were larger than the ones caused by the accident, and some were consistent with being grabbed and squeezed by a human hand,

typically only found in cases of CA. The doctor believed some of Lola's injuries were caused by weapons that had not been found at the scene. In particular, her right thigh had circular bruises in a distinctive linear pattern, and the bleeding puncture wounds on her forehead appeared to be caused by a different weapon. Her back and legs had been hit by yet another unidentified weapon. The pattern showed three or four blows that caused large bruises.

The injuries on her neck were not consistent with an accident, but were consistent with strangulation. The bruising on Lola's ears almost never happens by accident. It was usually the result of a direct blow. Dr. Stalker said the large subdural hemorrhage Lola had was usually the result of a high-velocity road traffic collision, where a child is thrown from the car or a fall from a great height, such as a fall from a balcony or bedroom window of more than 10 feet. Of course, neither of those things had happened in this case, so the only other cause would have been

violent shaking and forceful impacts. She said physical CA was the most likely cause. Stairfall does not explain the catastrophic and extensive injuries to the head with bleeding to both eyes. Lola's eyes had been horribly injured. All four quadrants in both of her eyes were bleeding from multiple places, including from the optic nerve sheath. She had retinal fold and retinal splitting, injuries caused when the retina wrinkles and detaches,

both signs of shaken baby syndrome. The doctor said, the whole picture of Lola's head injuries led me to conclude they were caused by abusive head trauma, most likely from being violently shaken. Her cause of death was brain. damage. Consultant neuro-radialologist Dr. Neil Studeley examined CT and MRI scans of Lola's head and independently came to the same conclusion. He said the subdural bleeding occurred mainly over the

front left side of her brain, but also on the back right side and at the base of her brain. This was caused by forceful shaking and impact on the left side of her head. Her scalp was swollen in several places, as were her ears, which he pointed to as additional evidence of impact. He testified her injuries could not be explained by a fall down the stairs and they were caused by inappropriate force. In his report, Dr. Studeley wrote that the injuries inside her skull caused extensive brain damage that led her to death. They were due to abusive head trauma likely to have occurred as a result of a shaking mechanism or a forceful impact to the left side of the head or a combination of both these mechanisms. In layman's terms, Kyle shook Lola and bashed her head. into something solid.

Prosecutor Reeves acknowledged that Kyle covered up his actions with multiple excuses, but she argued that Chenade should have been well aware of the risk of violence Kyle posed. As a mother, it was her job to protect Alola, but Sheenade did nothing. The jury deliberated for 10 hours. On April 4th, they found Kyle guilty of murder and she made guilty of causing or allowing Lola's death. At the sentencing hearing on April 25th, Lola's grandmother and father both gave him tax statements. Nicola addressed Kyle directly saying, You killed my Lola and you have broken her family. I hope with the time you have now you can

understand what you have done. Lola's clothes still hang in the wardrobe and her toys are still in the cupboard, but she is no longer here. She also told the court she lives with constant regret because she felt ill in the night her granddaughter needed her the most. Daniel grieved the life Lola would never get to live, said, as a parent, all I could hope for was that Lola would continue to grow with happiness and health, with the courage in her heart to know she could be anything, and do anything she wanted. That will never be.

I will never get to meet my daughter as a teenager or a woman. All I have left are memories of a beautiful baby and dreams of the child she can never become. Before Justice Griffith handed down their sentences, he considered mitigating factors such as the possibility that Chenade was afraid of Kyle, but ultimately determined she was not. The messages between the two didn't indicate fear.

Instead, she showed she was in control and able to leave when she wanted. She had the support of friends, neighbors, and family. Even with other options, the judge said she consistently prioritized the relationship with Kyle Bevin were concerned for her children. For her crime, he sentenced Chenade to six years in prison. She must serve three years before becoming eligible for release on license, which is similar to what we would call parole. Justice Griffiths noted Kyle's lack of remorse.

He said, Kyle started to hurt Lola at midnight and he carried on until she was unconscious at 6.30 a.m. Because this sustained, deliberate, and violent attack was completely unprovoked and carried out against a vulnerable child. He sentenced Kyle to life in prison. Must serve a minimum of 28 years before possible release on license. Chenade also lost custody of her surviving children, although she remained in contact with them. Mother Nicola said she hoped Chenade gets the help she needs while behind bars. Lola's funeral was held in St. David and St. Patrick Catholic Church in Haverford West on September 15th, 2020. After the service, her pink and white casket was taken to the cemetery by horse and carriage.

The route through town was announced, down Captain James Hill, through Front Street, and North Road across Marble Hall. The family asked the community to wash the procession and encourage them to clap, cheer, or let off a balloon to celebrate Lola's life. She was buried at Thornton Cemetery. Citizens of Haverford West were deeply saddened by her death. At a makeshift memorial outside her home, they left toys and stuffed animals for the toddler. A family friend who wished to remain anonymous said,

I knew her for her entire life and she was such a happy little girl. I have so many amazing memories of her. There was never a time that she wasn't smiling, and she had the cutest little smile. I hope that everyone dealing with this tragedy is okay, but I don't think this town will ever be the same again. So many people have been affected by this, and it's not an easy thing to go through.

Local counselor Thomas Tudor agreed saying, it's a terrible tragedy that has happened. The town is in a state of shock. After Lola's death, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children called for an investigation, which they call a child protective review. The society's local director, Tracy Holdsworth,

asked the government to make protecting children a national priority. She said, the review must be robust in finding whether more could have been done to protect this little girl and how agencies working together can better prevent future tragedies. According to reporting by BBC Wales, there were an alarming number of ongoing reviews, over 30 and at least four other children

in addition to Lola died during the nationwide lockdown. Until the reports have been published, the reason for the large number won't be clear. Experts believe the isolation likely played a part, but they don't think it was the sole cause. Dr. Dewey Evans, pediatrician and expert witness on child protection cases, said recent cuts to service have impacted the effectiveness of local agencies. He said they spend a lot of time firefighting. They spend most of their time chasing after those families where the injuries have already taken place, so there is no time or resources to prevent these.

risks occurring and of course prevention is better than cure. A child practice review was started after Lola's death, but put on hold after Kyle and Schneid's trials were completed. It was restarted in April of 2023. Although reviews often take about six months to complete, this one is taking longer. As of the date of this recording, no deadline has been set for completion and publication of the review. We will update you if any additional information becomes available. Lola's father, Daniel, wrote the following and a tribute to Lola. It read,

The pain and grief I feel every time I close my eyes and see your perfect little face is unbearable. Even to say your name shatters my heart. The only reason I can stand here today is for hope that you can see me, see that you are loved and that you deserve to live a full, happy, safe life surrounded by the joy that you gave to others. I'm so sorry your short life was filled with so much pain. You were so loved Lola and so missed every single day. In her tribute, Lola's grandmother, Nicola said,

My last memory with Lola is hearing her sing the song Diamonds by Rihanna. She and her sister had spent time learning the song and making up a little dance so they could put on a show for us. She will forever be a diamond up in the sky. We will never, ever forget her. We will continue to keep her memory. alive. We write her letters and we talk to her in the sky at night. As a family, we'll never get over this. The loss that we feel is indescribable. We haven't begun to process all of this and don't know if we ever will. Lola, we love you. We will always love you. We will miss you forever.

As the Krispy Chicken sandwich from 7-Eleven, people always call me loud. And I'm like, yeah, I know. I'm Krispy. Did you expect me to whisper? If you want quiet, Go eat some soup and reflect. Like I know I'm a handful. I'm bold, I'm juicy. Throw some pickles and barbecue sauce on me and baby I'm a whole meal. And with seven rewards, I'm just $4. Quiet, no.

Krispy, saucy, and $4? Very. Only at 711. Valley through 62326, participating stores only while supplies lastly out for full terms. Finley Bowden was born in England on February 15th, 2020, to parent Stephen Bowden and Shannon Mardson. Stephen and Shannon met in 2017 when Shannon was 17 years old and Stephen was 25.

The young family lived in Old Whittington, a village in the borough of Chesterfield in Derbyshire. Baby Finley was still mostly bald, with small tufts of blonde hair beginning to poke through and bright blue expressive eyes. According to Amanda O'Rourke, who was Finley's court-appointed guardian for a period of time, the little boy was a smiler who liked to blow raspberries. At the time of our story, he was only 10 months old. From the very beginning, 30-year-old Stephen and 22-year-old Shannon were on social services radar. Shannon notified the agency that she was 20 weeks pregnant in September of 2019.

Child welfare became involved in their lives due to the concerns over substance use, family violence, and due to the fact that they were living in squalor. Stephen cared more about spending money on weed than caring for his new baby. In fact, Stephen first started regularly. smoking at nine years old. Shannon began drinking at age nine and smoking regularly by age 10. Although weed is legal in many U.S. states, it is still prohibited in the UK as of the date of this recording. Stephen was also known to have an extremely violent temper, often punching holes and doors on the drywall. He had 22 previous convictions, some of which were for theft and family

violence. According to neighbors that knew the couple, they were prone to having violent arguments that would often turn physical. As the world was neck-deep in the pandemic at the time, social services were concerned about a newborn and a young woman being locked down with a volatile man. Due to these circumstances, Finley Bowden was taken into custody three days after his birth and remained in care for the first nine months of his life. According to King's Counsel Prosecutor Mary Pryor, Finley was fit and well, safe and happy during the time away from his parents. However, Stephen and Shannon requested to have custody of their son, and that request was quickly granted by the family court system.

In fact, they ordered his return within eight weeks, and despite one of the reasons that occasioned Finley's removal, there was no order put in place mandating that his parents submit to regular testing for substance use. Court, who held a hearing over the phone, found that the couple did not, in their words, posed such a risk to their son that the situation was not manageable or required him to be placed out of their care in the foreseeable future. Stephen and Shannon completely fooled social services, convincing them that they were making real changes in their lives.

They even redid his whole bedroom, except they had no concrete plans to change and actually take care of their little boy. Baby Finley should have been enjoying his very first Christmas with his parents, but that's not what happens. On December 23, 2020, Stephen texted his dealer and told him, I want to bounce him off the walls. He was referring to Finley. In the days leading up to the holiday, Stephen and Shannon canceled Finley's health visitor appointment and told social service workers that the baby had a virus and that they couldn't see him when they dropped in unannounced. At 2.27 a.m. on Christmas morning

2020, a 9-99 call was placed from the family's old Wittington home to report that Little Finley was unresponsive. His 10-month-old was whisked away to the hospital where first responders worked feverishly to revive him. Sadly, there was nothing anyone he could do, and Finley Bowden was pronounced dead at 3.45 a.m. Just an hour and 18 minutes later. He'd only been in the care of his parents for a total of 39 days. While still at the hospital, Stephen told Shannon that he planned to sell Finley's stroller on eBay, but when called out on this statement later, claimed he only said it in an effort to lighten the mood.

Finley's death was immediately deemed suspicious. At autopsy, the medical examiner found 71 bruises on his tiny body, as well as two burns that were alleged to be from a cigarette lighter. In addition, Finley had 57 broken bones, including to his pelvis, shoulder, ankle, and ribs. In fact, his pelvis was broken in two separate places, and was thought that he had sustained these injuries from a grown adult kicking or stomping on him. The medical examiner likened Finley's injuries to that of a bit of a big person. baby that had been dropped out of a multi-story building.

According to Detective Inspector Paul Bullock of the Derbyshire police, the violence that Finley sustained was both incomprehensible and amongst the worst I've seen in my 27-year policing career. According to reports, Finley was no longer able to sit up and play with his toys. He was unable to feed himself, and his daily experience was one of considerable pain, distress, and suffering. In addition, Finley's frail state made him susceptible to infections, including pneumonia and sepsis. Toxicology reports also found THC in the 10-month-old system, which means that Stephen and Shannon would have been actively smoking around him in the days leading up to his death.

Stephen Bowden and Shannon Morrison were promptly arrested in charge with her son's murder. At their trial, Justice Amanda Tipples had harsh words for the couple and painted the pair as both persuasive and accomplished liars, who denied their son the medical care that could have saved his life. She also noted the plethora of injuries that Little Finley suffered could only have been inflicted by the couple working in consort. Justice Tipples added, no one heard Finley cry or scream in pain because you inflicted the injuries on him together, with one of you fracturing his bones and the other keeping him quiet with your hand over his mouth. According to King's counsel prosecutor Mary Pryor, the defendants knew they were causing serious harm to Finley and

persisted with it. They were indifferent to it. She told the court how the 10-month-old was forced to sleep in bedding, stained with his own blood and vomit. After a trial that lasted five months that included testimony that baby Finley essentially had broken every bone in his body, the jury, many of whom were in tears, found both Stephen and Shannon guilty on all counts. Justice Amanda Tipples, who was also emotional, sentenced them accordingly. Stephen Bowden and Shannon Marsden, I must sentence you both for murder. The only sentence I can pass on you is one of life imprisonment. It is in any event the proper sentence for your

crime. I also have to set the minimum term that you must serve before the parole board can consider you for release. That minimum term will reflect your overall criminality. The minimum term in your case, Stephen Bowden, will be 29 years. From that you must have to the number of days you have already spent in custody, which I'm told is 519 days. Please can Stephen Bowden be taken down? The minimum term in your case, Shannon Marsden, will be 27 years. From that, you must have deducted the number of days you've already spent in custody, which I'm told is 519 days.

Please can Shannon Marsden be taken down? She went on to note that once the injuries had been inflated, Finley's daily experience was one of considerable pain, distress and suffering, and that neither parents showed any remorse for what they had done. Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Steve Shaw shared the following words from the courthouse steps. Bowdo and Marsden from the moment Finley returned to their care throughout the trial, after conviction, and even at sentence, have never taken responsibility for their actions. They lied and obstructed professionals who were attempting to see Finley to establish that it was being cared for in the correct manner.

They refused because they knew that once a professional saw the state of the home and the condition that Finley was in, he would have been taken from their care. They conspired between them to ensure that no professional would see Finley and keep it. and keep their awful crimes a secret. But we now know the truth, and they have paid the price with their liberty. I hope that Finley's wider family today will bring a degree of closure. He also went on to state that we've seen a mother and a father jailed for what is quite simply an incomprehensible crime. They knew that they were responsible for those injuries.

And instead of doing the right thing in taking Finley to get urgent medical care, they took him shopping in Chesterfield Town Center as though nothing was wrong. In actual fact, Finley was dying. In the wake of Finley's death, there were a lot of questions that needed answering. For example, social services was already involved in the family's life long before Finley was even born. So how did things turn out so horribly? So by summer of 2020, pandemic restrictions had started to ease to the point where Stephen and Shannon wanted visitation with their son and began working with a social worker named Lynn Williams to help facilitate that. In her notes, she wrote that on warmer days, Shannon ensured that Finley was in the shade

and that her holding her son's hand while he was in the stroller was a natural response from a caring parent. Ms. Williams claimed that Stephen talked to his son and made him smile. During a visit in August, she noted that the fridge and cupboards were stocked with food and the home appeared neat and tidy. The couple also claimed to have given up on smoking weed, but test conducted months later approved that that was a lie. On October 1st, 2020, the family court ruled that Finley was eligible for family reunification and set up an eight-week plan in which the infant would be gradually

reintroduced to his family. This included supervised and unsupervised visits in overnight stays, but this was all supposed to happen gradually. The family was also to undergo 12 months of supervision and home monitoring. The family social worker actually suggested that instead of an eight-week plan, that the transition should take place over the course of four to six months due to the concerns of whether or not Stephen and Shannon could actually parent Finley. However, all of this was ignored, and on November 17th, Finley was returned to his parents' care. Just two days later, a social worker making a home visit noticed a four-centimeter bump on the baby's head, which Stephen and Shannon claimed was caused by a toy. Just over a week, just over a week.

A week later on November 27th, another social worker, Emily Hollandale, observed Finley sleeping on the couch unsupervised while his parents listened to music in an upstairs bedroom. She had seen the little boy through a downstairs window as the music was so loud that the couple couldn't hear her knocking. This was the last time that anyone from social services witnessed Little Finley alive. On December 23rd, just two days before Finley would be pronounced dead, social worker tried to pay a visit to the home, but Stephen refused to let her inside She also observed Shannon standing in the street about a hundred or so yards away conducting what appeared to her to be a drug deal. That same day, Finley was registered to take a pandemic-related virus test that YouTube doesn't let us say the word of,

but never made it to the appointment, and Shannon was Googling symptoms of sepsis. Finally, on December 24, Stephen and Shannon were caught on CCTV, bringing Finley to multiple locations. If you quickly look at the right side of your screen, you see what is reported to be Shannon pushing Finley. Finley, this is around 2.26 p.m. You can see she is slowly pushing him down the street here. Now, a few hours later, at 716, here is Stephen pushing him into a Tesco Express. Seemingly not really concerned about getting him proper help. They had plenty of time to do so. And while Stephen clearly looks concerned here, there's not a whole lot of urgency in getting his son help. And furthermore, why not just go to a hospital?

By now, Finley would have been suffering from sepsis and an agonizing pain from all of his broken bones, but still, his parents couldn't be bothered to bring him to the emergency room before it was too late. In the end, two magistrates, Kathy Gallimore and Susan Burns, and a legal advisor found that the eight-week transition period, rather than the four-to-six-month proposed transition period, was, in their words, a reasonable and proportionate length of time. In addition, the Children and Families Court Advisory Service claimed that it is not possible to say whether a longer transition plan would have prevented Finley's death.

What led to his death was the ability of his parents to deceive everyone involved about their love for him and their desire to care for him. If that's not crazy enough, after reading transcripts of the family court hearings, Justice Natalie Levin claimed that the courts made a reasonable decision, she said, having read the papers here, I have every sympathy with the decision the magistrates made. Toby Perkins, who is a British Labour Party politician who has served as a member of parliament for Chesterfield since 2010, his call for further inquiry into Derbyshire's child welfare system. In an interview with the BBC, he said,

it is legitimate to question that entire process, whether the care required for Finley-Boden's safety was preserved by that process. He added that, we remain fully engaged with the statutory legal review process, which looks in depth at the role of all agencies following the death of a child. We're really glad that Mr. Perkins is taking this seriously because the fact that Stephen and Shannon couldn't be bothered to keep Sweet Finley alive for 39 days is just unimaginable. And it makes you wonder why on earth they wanted him back in the first place. This case draws a lot of parallels to the story of Christian Crossland,

which we released on this channel back in November. In 2018, when he was about two years old, his mother, Chelsea, left him in the care of his guardians, Brittany Ballinger and Trevor Easton. The couple raised Christian as their own son up until January 8th of 2022. It was then after Chelsea gave birth to her fourth child that she wanted to get the family back together. From there, she proceeded to beat and starve Christian over the course of 74 days. And for what? The little boy had a family that loved him. Why on earth would Chelsea bring him home just to murder him.

There's no public obituary for Finley Bowden, but his Find a Grave page notes that he was cremated. The only public memorial that we were able to find for this little boy was a message posted by user SSBJ on his Find a Grave page, which reads, Murdered. Return to parents by Child Protection Services. Precious, perfect little human being, no more pain, nor torture at the hands of family. We here love you and will protect your sweet memory.