THE horrific murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes has repulsed the country.
His gut-wrenching cries — “No one loves me, no one is going to feed me” — broke the hearts of our town of Solihull, and the country as well.
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The horrific murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes has repulsed the countryCredit: PA
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Julian Knight, Conservative MP for Solihull, is backing whole-life sentences for those found guilty of the pre-meditated murder of a childCredit: Wikipedia
This young lad who never had a chance, experiencing unimaginable brutality in his short life.
As I followed the grim details of the trial, I was left feeling a heart-wrenching sadness for this little six-year-old, killed by the family meant to be looking after him.
Picking up my newspaper, I looked at that now-famous photo of Arthur — beaming with that big smile of his, proudly carrying his rucksack — and wondered how anyone could be so cruel, so sadistic, as to harm a hair on his head.
But that sadness was quickly followed by something else: Rage.
How did his monstrous stepmum Emma Tustin and evil dad Thomas Hughes get away with abusing him for so long?
Why didn’t social services heed the warnings of his concerned relatives and take him away from that hellhole of a home?
And why didn’t the judge lock up Tustin and Thomas and throw away the key?
She was given just 29 years for dealing the final, fatal blow.
After a long campaign of torture in which little Arthur was starved, fed food poisoned with salt, and beaten, she ended his short life by repeatedly slamming his head on a hard surface.
His dad, meanwhile — the man he was meant to look up to and rely on for protection — joined in the sick abuse and torture, leaving Arthur to slowly starve in a lonely hallway as he gorged on McDonald’s on the sofa.
I referred the case to be looked at again because I think these sentences are too short. They are an insult to his memory.
These monsters ended the life of an innocent child in the cruellest way. They should be locked up for life.
That is why I am backing whole-life sentences for those found guilty of the pre-meditated murder of a child.
Judges give these sentences only to the very worst offenders — serial killers, the most appalling murderers. Wayne Couzens, the Met Police officer who stalked, raped and murdered Sarah Everard, has one.
THESE SENTENCES ARE AN INSULT
But what crime could be more serious than the killing of an innocent child?
Arthur’s trial heard that by the time he was killed, he had 130 bruises on his little body — one for every day of lockdown. Let that grim fact sink in.
We were ordered to stay at home in lockdown to stop the spread of Covid and save lives. But for little Arthur, those 130 days spelled the end of his brief life.
Boris Johnson has my backing in toughening up this law.
And I reckon he would have the support of the entire nation.
Just look at the moving tributes to little Arthur, from football clubs across the country to the street where he lived, to see the strength of feeling this case evokes.
Whenever a child dies at the hands of their parents, we say it must never happen again.
We said it in 2000 when Victoria Climbie was killed in Haringey, North London, by her great-aunt Marie-Therese Kouao and Kouao’s boyfriend.
And in 2007 when Peter Connelly, known as Baby P, died after being neglected by his mum Tracey and tortured by her boyfriend Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen, again in Haringey.
Arthur’s death must be a watershed moment. We should toughen up our laws so a life sentence really does mean life for these disgusting killers.
We must take a root-and-branch look at our children’s social services to see what went so badly wrong in this case and how we can stop it from happening again, to ensure no town has its heart broken like Solihull.
When I think of Arthur, I don’t want to just think of his horrific death.
I want to think of the gregarious little boy who loved to read and, like so many children his age, was obsessed with comic books and superheroes such as Batman and Black Panther. The little boy who was mad about Birmingham City and football.
Arthur was so much more than the brutal manner of his death.
But we owe it to him, and the life he was robbed of, to do all we can to prevent another tragedy.
- Julian Knight is Conservative MP for Solihull.
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Victoria Climbie was killed in Haringey, North London, by her great-aunt Marie-Therese Kouao and Kouao’s boyfriendCredit: PA:Press Association
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In 2007 Peter Connelly, known as Baby P, died after being neglected by his mum Tracey and tortured by her boyfriend Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen, again in HaringeyCredit: PA:Press Association
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Wayne Couzens, the Met Police officer who stalked, raped and murdered Sarah Everard was given a life sentenceCredit: PA
MP fights back tears as he demands answers to Arthur’s murder
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16959559/arthur-labinjo-hughes-life-sentences/
