FAVERSHAM, Kent (AP) — The tragic case of 18-month-old Alfie Phillips, who suffered 70 injuries to his body and was beaten and smothered in a caravan in Kent, has led to the imprisonment of his mother and her former partner for his murder.
Sian Hedges, 27, and Jack Benham, 35, were found guilty of murdering the toddler on November 28, 2020, after a night of “violent discipline” in Benham’s caravan in Hernhill, near Faversham, Kent. Prosecutors described the injuries inflicted on Alfie as a “myriad of bruises” and included broken ribs, arms, and legs. Traces of cocaine, which they had been drinking and taking, were found in Alfie’s body.
The judge, in his sentencing remarks, stated that Alfie suffered “unimaginable pain” in the “frenzied attack.” Both Hedges and Benham were given life sentences, with Benham jailed for a minimum term of 23 years and Hedges for a minimum term of 19 years.
The court heard that Benham and Hedges started a relationship in September 2020 after meeting at a mutual friend’s house where they purchased drugs. They provided explanations for earlier injuries Alfie suffered, but the prosecution accused them of lying, stating that Alfie had been deliberately injured on more than one occasion.
Alfie’s father, Sam Phillips, lamented that he will never know the truth about what happened to his son, stating: “I never got to hear him say his first proper words, I never got to have a conversation with him, I was robbed of the opportunity to see him grow up.”
This is indeed a tragic case, as Alfie was killed by the very people responsible for looking after him and protecting him that night. Instead, they subjected him to a series of assaults, leaving him with devastating injuries that he could not survive.