Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Killers 'should never see light' says Grandad

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Arthur’s stepmother Emma Tustin, 32, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years at Coventry Crown Court after being found guilty of the six-year-old’s murder. His father, Thomas Hughes, 29, was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter.

Details of Arthur’s abuse, including being poisoned with salt, emerged during the trial earlier this month causing widespread shock, revulsion and grief.

Referring the case to the Court of Appeal, Attorney General Suella 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.

“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 at the Court of Appeal is yet to be set.

Defenceless Arthur was left with an unsurvivable brain injury while in the sole care of “evil” Tustin.

The six-year-old, whose body was covered in 130 bruises, died in hospital the day after she assaulted him in the hallway of her Cranmore Road home in Solihull, on June 16 2020.

“Manipulative” and “calculating” Tustin was unanimously convicted after an eight-week trial.

Arthur’s “pitiless” father was found guilty of his manslaughter after encouraging the killing.

Hughes’s “infatuation” for Tustin had “obliterated” any love for his son, sentencing judge Mr Justice Mark Wall QC said.

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Earlier this month, the maternal grandfather of Arthur said the couple “must never see the light of day again”.

Peter Halcrow told the Sun: “They must never see the light of day again.

“No punishment could ever be enough for this pair.

“I have never favoured the death penalty because I know mistakes can be made by courts, but in my view they have forfeited their right to live.

“It will burden taxpayers but, as we don’t have capital punishment, they should certainly never leave prison as long as they live for such cruelty and inhumanity.”

Arthur’s maternal grandmother Madeleine Halcrow said the pair showed “no remorse, no sympathy”.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain earlier in December, she branded them “depraved, sadistic, torturous, evil, calculating people”.

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