Parents killed baby when he should have been protected, report says

A baby murdered by his parents 39 days after being placed back into their care “should have been one of the most protected children”, a review has said.

Stephen Boden and Shannon Marsden were jailed for murdering Finley Boden, who died on Christmas Day in 2020.

A safeguarding review said there were “significant shortcomings” in the care of Finley, who suffered 130 “appalling” injuries at the hands of his parents.

It found numerous missed opportunities, which may have prevented his death.

The local child safeguarding practice review, published on Wednesday, details key findings and makes a number of recommendations for future improvements.

The review identified Covid-19 lockdown restrictions as a major factor in helping the parents deceive authorities, but added opportunities to intervene were missed.

Boden and Marsden were known drug users and Boden had already served time in prison for violent and threatening behaviour, the report said.

Finley was returned to their care following a family court hearing on 1 October, despite concerns over Boden and Marsden’s drug use and the state of the family home.

The report said Finley, who was killed when he was 10 months old, was “completely dependent on their parents for all aspects of their care” and as a result “there were many risks inherent in this situation”.

“This was not adequately understood,” the report added.

The report added the lead social worker in the case was absent from work for six weeks due to illness, during which no social visits to Finley or his parents took place.

It stated that while Finley’s parents were responsible for his death, “professional interventions should have protected him”.

Steve Atkinson, the DDSCP’s independent chairman and scrutineer, said: “The report acknowledges there were significant mitigating circumstances in the period leading up to Finley’s death – the Covid lockdowns, the very restricted access, unfamiliar working circumstances and remote meetings and parental dishonesty and disengaging.

“However, these are not excuses.”

Derbyshire County Council’s children’s services accepted there had been “missed opportunities” in Finley’s case.

Carol Cammiss, executive director for children’s services, said: “Finley’s death was a tragedy for everyone who knew him and everyone involved in his care.

“Despite the significant Covid restrictions placed on our work at the time, we know there were missed opportunities for stronger practice and we apologise for that.

“We did not wait for the outcome of this review – we took immediate action to review and strengthen our systems and continue to monitor the way we work with babies and families.”

A trial at Derby Crown Court heard Finley suffered injuries – including 57 breaks to his bones – at the hands of Boden and Marsden.

The boy also suffered 71 bruises and two burns on his left hand – one “from a hot, flat surface”, the other probably from “a cigarette lighter flame”, the court heard.

Paramedics were called to the couple’s home in Holland Road, Old Whittington, in the early hours of Christmas Day after Finley suffered a cardiac arrest.

He was taken to hospital and was later pronounced dead.

During the murder trial, the court heard Boden and Marsden worked together to keep professionals away from Finley to protect each other and cover up serious violence.

This included cancelling a health visitor appointment two days before he died and telling social services when they arrived unannounced that Finley may have Covid-19 and refusing to let them in.

The judge said the murder was “savage and prolonged” with a “sadistic motivation”.

Boden and Marsden were ordered to serve a minimum of 29 and 27 years respectively.

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