How can parents do this?

Yes it is too much to bear. I wish I hadn't read it.

This little boy asked to see a doctor, such a grown up request
He told his uncle his father was going to kill him, how could he even begin to process that in his 6 year-old mind
6 little years, trying so hard to get help but nobody was hearing him
Crying out for his grandmother, his uncle
Why didn't the uncle or grandmother go in anyway and remove him, ok, they would be arrested-but that would have exposed the terrible truth surely
The parents probably bribed him with lies that (one) day they let him play in the garden (to hoodwink the SS) with false promises of more days like that, and, wanting to believe they did love him, that poor little boy did what they told him too, wanting to please them and for the hurt to stop
It's unbearable
The cruelty, manipulation, the deliberate, terrible abuse and breaking of all possible between a parent and their child
No punishment will take back what happened to Arthur, what he suffered, his horrible and terrifying death, and he must have known, trying to understand, in his little mind, knowing he was going to die, alone and terrified
It's too much to bear
It's traumatised everyone who has had to deal with it, not just us as the public
How will the grandmother and the uncle live with what happened

What I find even more sickening is that when family members of the child raised concerns they were ignored and when they complained they were told they would be arrested if they entered the home to get the child out. The director of child services in the area " retired" 6 months after the poor child died on a very handsome pension.

That poor little boy was from Coventry too, *nightowl

The Social Services there were found to be inadequate after Daniel died - it seems nothing has improved.

Apparently Tustin's father also made calls to social services about abusive treatment to Arthur by the father and their daughter but were ignored.

nananet01 I hope so too. I hope he had some kindness in his last few weeks and months. But I fear for the surviving children, whatever the situation was. They were innocents too.

And yet another one on the news, baby Amina killed by her parents. She had 60 broken bones and the parents tried to blame the paramedics. Little Amina was only eight weeks old. I have a new grandson who is around a month old. I am terrified just to hold him gently in case I inadvertently hurt him; I cannot imagine doing such violence to anyone, let alone a baby.

As usual the perpetrators had that inhuman, soulless, empty look in their eyes.

Calistemon I wonder too. One thing is for sure, children living with and witnessing that kind of cruelty cannot possibly be unaffected. What a horror story this family were. These poor children didn’t stand a chance.

I hope it was that way for him nightowl

I agree Urmstrongran. She should have been made to stand, to listen, be subjected to judgement, not allowed to hide

nightowl I did wonder, if they had tried to help him but were afraid.

nananet01 they may not have been encouraged to hurt him. One of the harrowing aspects of poor little Daniel Pelka’s death was the testimony provided by his sibling, who had secretly bought food for him, tried to protect him from assaults, cleaned him up and flushed the toilet after Daniel used it - because Daniel wasn’t allowed to do so. It was this sibling who found him unresponsive on the night he died and tried to wake him up. I often wonder what became of that poor child and pray that he or she received loving support to deal with the trauma and they suffered. There are many ways to abuse children and this was undoubtedly a variation perpetrated by their mother and stepfather.

I agree.

Apparently she's had salt thrown at her by other prisoners and has attempted suicide.

“Tustin, who was brought to Coventry Crown Court, "refused to come up" to the dock for the duration of the sentencing, Mr Justice Mark Wall QC said at the start of the hearing“

Her human rights I suppose, to be able to refuse? Has this always been so? I bet it’s a fairly new concept “nah, I’m not going up there to hear it all thanks, you can tell me later”.

She didn’t show any such consideration towards Arthur.

They should have dragged her up to that dock in my opinion.

It said on the news today that her other children were well cared for.

Has anyone thought about her children? She had 4, God help them
They were prob encouraged to hurt him too, what kjnd of adults will they become

I know it isn’t possible, as it brings to mind of regimes but sterilization for adults who are so abusive towards children doesn’t seem too hard. He will be able to father children again when he has served his sentence.

As he hasn’t received a life sentence he will be eligible for parole long before 21 yrs.

From what I read yesterday she threw herself out of a first floor window when her ex husband tried to leave her. She broke her leg. She then jumped from the 6th floor of a building when someone else tried to leave. She’s obviously unstable so it’s highly likely she will try to end her life. She will be cheating justice if she succeeds.

Did anyone honestly expect any different?
That's our "justice" system.

Not enough.

Appalling. That’s not justice.

Life with minimum 29 yrs for her. I was hoping it would be 35yrs. He has received 21 yrs. Apparently she was refusing to leave her cell.

I hope they’re terrified.

Life isn’t 20 years. It’s life subject to whatever minimum period in prison the judge considers appropriate, up to whole life. I hope the latter, though rare, is imposed on the stepmother. It’s unlikely in the father’s case as he was found guilty of manslaughter.

I m afraid I don’t agree either, I ve never felt vindictive but I would like them to be frightened, shunned, looking over their shoulders perhaps in solitary for periods In fact I would like everything to be done to them that they did to that little lad so made to sleep on the floor, kept without much food, given salt to drink and hit on the back and shoulders Yes they need the same treatment indeed
However long they are in for and remember a life sentence id 20 years and if they behave out in half that they should be mocked and hounded and made to feel fear

GermanSheperdsmum yes salt is the least harmful for them to put in the food but just for starters it would do. If they put spoon fulls of salt in meals then it would be almost inedible, not nice being hungry all day is it? Like I say that is just for starters.

For those hoping she commits suicide, just remember that really is the easy way out. Whilst I don’t agree with other inmates dishing out the punishment, their lives won’t be very pleasant. They must be kept on suicide watch so they serve every single day of the, surely very long, sentences they receive.

I’ve done work in prisons and they aren’t very nice places. They really aren’t the cushy, watching tv all day holiday camps that people think. I doubt they’ll be on normal wings and they’ll be watching their backs constantly.