Wednesday, 25 Dec 2024

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes mum: Mother’s heartbreaking tribute to ‘light of my life’ boy

Vigil held for Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside his home

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The young boy was sent to live with his father, 29-year-old Thomas Hughes and his stepmother 32-year-old Emma Tustin after his own mother was jailed. Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow has since paid tribute to her little boy, while incarcerated, describing him as the “light of my life”.

Also within her tribute from behind bars, Olivia described her son as her “best friend”.

She said: “Arthur was the light of my life. He wasn’t just my only child – he was my best friend.

“Never did I imagine he would be taken from this world so early in his life.

“If Arthur could ask for one last thing, it would be that he was remembered for his superpower.”

Olivia noted that her son’s “superpower” was his smile, adding “that will always be what I remember”.

The heartbreaking tribute from Arthur’s mum comes while she is incarcerated, with her mother Madeleine Halcrow adding: “I think they are cold, calculating, systematic torturers of a defenceless little boy.”

Olivia was arrested after knifing her on-off partner Gary Cunningham – whom she began dating following her split from Arthur’s dad – 12 times in a drink and drug-fuelled rage at their home in February 2019.

In September 2019, she was initially jailed for 18 years and told she would serve up to half behind bars, after being convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Following her incarceration, her son Arthur was placed into the custody of his father Thomas Hughes.

Arthur died in hospital on June 17, 2020, after being left with an unsurvivable brain injury while in the sole care of his stepmother.

On Friday, during a hearing at Coventry Crown Court, Tustin was jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years, after being found guilty of the boy’s murder.

While Arthur’s father was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter.

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The pair were also convicted of various counts of child cruelty against the six-year-old, who was emaciated when he died and covered in 130 bruises.

After the court’s verdict, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) confirmed their sentences would be reviewed.

A spokesperson for the AGO said: “The Attorney General’s thoughts are with those who loved Arthur.

“I can confirm that the sentences given to Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes have been referred to the Attorney General for review to determine whether they were too low.”

The conviction of the couple came 17 months after Arthur was discovered unresponsive by paramedics at his stepmother’s home.

On Friday, Boris Johnson said ministers will leave “absolutely no stone unturned” to establish what went wrong in the case.

The Prime Minister added: “I just want to say, on the tragic and appalling case of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, like many people I find it hard to read it, let alone to understand how people could behave like that to a defenceless little child.

“I’m glad that justice had been done, in the sense that they have both received tough sentences, but that is absolutely no consolation, and what we’ve got to make sure now is we learn the lessons about that case, we look at exactly what happened, what else could have been done to protect that child.”

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered on the boy’s street in Solihull to pay their respects.

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