The Misery Machine - The Case of Finley Boden

Starting point is 00:00:00 Finley Bowden was born in England on February 15, 2020 to parent Stephen Bowden in Shannon Mardsden. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:47 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.

Starting point is 00:01:25 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 Prior, 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,

Starting point is 00:02:25 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.

Starting point is 00:03:01 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 Whittington home to report that Little Finley was unresponsive. The 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

Starting point is 00:03:51 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. Medical examiner likened Finley's injuries to that of a baby that had been dropped out of a multi-story building. According to Detective Inspector Paul Bullock of the Derbyshire police, the violence that

Starting point is 00:04:37 Finley sustained was both incomprehensible and amongst the worst I've seen in my 27th. 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 Marsden were promptly arrested in charge with her son's murder. At their trial, Justice Amanda Tipples had harsh words for the couple

Starting point is 00:05:21 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,

Starting point is 00:05:50 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.

Starting point is 00:06:32 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 deducted the number of days you have already spent in custody, which I'm told is 519 days. Please can Stephen Bowden be taken down?

Starting point is 00:07:08 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 inflicted, Finley's daily experience was one of considerable pain, distress and suffering, and that neither parents showed any remorse for what they had.

Starting point is 00:07:38 done. Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Steve Shaw shared the following words from the courthouse steps. The 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 to. 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 their

Starting point is 00:08:29 awful crimes a secret. But we now know the truth, and they have paid the price with their liberty. I hope that for 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, Finley's death, there were a lot of questions that needed answering. For example, social services

Starting point is 00:09:11 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 tests conducted months later proved that that was a lie.

Starting point is 00:09:58 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 and overnight stays, but this was all supposed to happen gradually. The family was also to undergo 12 months of supervisions 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

Starting point is 00:10:37 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 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.

Starting point is 00:11:11 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 100 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.

Starting point is 00:11:38 Finally, on December 24th, 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. 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.

Starting point is 00:12:08 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 act. 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

Starting point is 00:12:44 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

Starting point is 00:13:20 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

Starting point is 00:13:56 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

Starting point is 00:14:26 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.

Starting point is 00:15:01 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. If you'd like to learn more about Christian Crosson's story, please click here or check up the link in our description.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Finley Boden

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