A mother and father have been found guilty of murdering their baby son on Christmas Day, after they left him with over 130 injuries as they burned and beat the innocent child.
Finley Boden, 10-month-old, was burned and badly beaten in the days leading up to his death.
Stephen Boden, 30, and Shannon Marsden, 22, were convicted today after a five-week trial at Derby Crown Court.
The jury was told how Finley died during the winter 2020 Covid lockdown, just 39 days after he had been placed back into his parents’ care.
The pair frequently smoked cannabis together, which led to Finley being made the subject of a child protection plan by social services a month before he was born.
Both Boden and Marsden would to inflict ‘repeated acts of violence’ on their son at their home in Derbyshire.
Prosecutor Mary Prior KC described how little Finley suffered a catalogue of ‘appalling’ injuries, including 71 bruises over his body and 57 fractures.
He had also developed pneumonia, endocarditis – inflammation of the lining of the heart – and sepsis.
Only hours after his son’s death, Boden shocked medical staff when he was heard telling Marsden at hospital that he was going to sell Finley’s pushchair on eBay.
He later told police he only made the crude joke in an effort to lighten the mood.
When a family court ordered that Finley be returned to his parents in October 2020, Boden and Marsden reduced their cannabis use in an effort to convince social services that they were responsible parents.
But they soon returned to their bad habits and drug use became commonplace at their home.
When paramedics were called to the property in the early hours of Christmas Day 2020, they noticed Finley had dirty fingernails and clothes.
They believed he had been dead for longer than Boden and Marsden were suggesting.
Boden later confessed to a relative that they delayed calling an ambulance so they could hide their drugs.
The judge, Mrs Justice Tipples, choked back tears as she thanked the jury for its ‘extremely impressive conduct through proceedings, as she thanked them for their ‘dedication, commitment and patience in carrying out this extremely important public service’.
