00:00 A mother and her former partner have been jailed for the murder of 18-month-old Alfie
00:06 Phillips. 27-year-old Sian Hedges and 35-year-old Jack Benham were sentenced at the Maidstone
00:13 Law Courts to life in prison, with minimum terms of 19 years and 23 years, respectively.
00:20 Alfie suffered 70 injuries to his body in an overnight attack by Hedges and Benham in
00:26 a caravan in Hernhill, Kent, on November 28, 2020.
00:32 I think that Alfie was fine when he went into that caravan. I think the evidence tells us
00:36 that there was a joint attempt to assault him. Who did what exactly to Alfie, we will
00:43 never know. Only Jack Benham and Sian Hedges will know exactly what they did to Alfie,
00:47 but both played a significant part in the injuries which led to his death.
00:52 Fuelled on whiskey and cocaine, the pair subjected the little boy to a night of violence. Alfie
00:58 died with several bruises, multiple broken bones including ribs, arms and a leg, and
01:04 traces of cocaine in his body.
01:07 The injuries suffered by Alfie that night were so numerous and so serious that the medical
01:12 experts were not able to say which of them had been the immediate cause of Alfie's death.
01:18 It is absolutely clear, however, that the cumulative effects of these vicious and brutal
01:24 assaults resulted in his death. It must have taken some considerable time to inflict these
01:30 injuries on Alfie, and the pain and fear that he must have suffered is almost unimaginable.
01:37 It was clear to medics when Alfie was admitted to hospital in Margate that his fatal injuries
01:42 were no accident.
01:43 At this moment in time you are under arrest for the neglect of a child, okay?
01:48 You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention where
01:51 you questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given
01:55 in evidence.
01:56 No, no, no, you can't arrest me. What about Shaq?
01:57 The hospital have also told us from an x-ray, just wait a moment, okay, that there's potentially
02:02 an old fracture to one of the arms as well, which may have required some sort of hospital
02:06 treatment at the time, but they can't find any records to show that he has been taken,
02:09 okay? That's what we've been told at the moment in time.
02:11 The pair were found guilty in November last year after a nine-week trial, where a unanimous
02:15 verdict was reached in under 10 hours by the jury.
02:19 Today, Mr Justice Kavanagh took little over 20 minutes in his remarks to pass life sentences.
02:26 We finally got what we deserved for that little boy. The outcome could have been a little
02:30 bit better. 23 years and a 19.
02:33 19 years.
02:35 We've got the justice in our hearts.
02:37 Sian Hedges and Jack Benham will spend at least the next two decades behind bars. The
02:43 court heard that Alfie's smile would light up any room - a light which was tragically
02:48 extinguished far too soon.
02:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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