Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Sentences for stepmother and father referred to appeal court

Arthur’s stepmother was convicted of murder, with the boy’s father found guilty of his manslaughter
Arthur Labinjo-HughesArthur Labinjo-Hughes
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes

The jail sentences handed to Arthur Labinjo-Hughes’s father and stepmother have been referred to the Court of Appeal for being too lenient, Attorney General Suella Braverman has announced.

Arthur suffered an unsurvivable brain injury while in the care of his father’s partner, 32-year-old Emma Tustin.

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She was jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years at Coventry Crown Court on December 3, after being convicted of murder by assaulting Arthur in the hallway of her home in Cranmore Road, Solihull, on June 16 2020.

Tustin was unanimously convicted after an eight-week trial, with the boy’s father Thomas Hughes found guilty of his manslaughter.

Referring the case to the Court of Appeal, Ms Braverman said: “This is an extremely upsetting and disturbing case, involving a clearly vulnerable young child.

“Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes grossly abused their position of trust and subjected an innocent child, who they should have been protecting, to continued emotional and physical abuse.”

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“I understand how distressing the public have found this case, but it is my job to decide if a sentence appears to be unduly lenient based on the facts of the case.

“I have carefully considered the details of this case, and I have decided to refer the sentences to the Court of Appeal as I believe them to be too low.”

A date for the hearing is yet to be set.

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