Stepdad and dad handed brutal jail terms over six-year-old Arthur’s savage death
Father locked up for at least 21 years
Thomas Hughes, 29, must serve a minimum 21 years for the manslaughter of his son Arthur, who died from an “unsurvivable brain injury” on June 16, 2020. Judge Wall revealed Hughes had deliberately “researched pressure points” to cause Arthur the “maximum pain.”
Stepmother gets 29 years for chilling murder
Emma Tustin, 32, refused to appear in court for her sentencing at 1 Crown Court. She was found guilty of murdering her six-year-old stepson after a horrific campaign of “evil” abuse. Judge Wall blasted both adults, saying, “I have no doubt Arthur was regularly beaten by both of you, each was aware of what the other was doing.”
Tustin was sentenced to at least 29 years behind bars for starving, poisoning, and ultimately killing Arthur. The judge warned she could spend the rest of her life in prison if parole is denied.
Shocking abuse hidden in plain sight
Judge Wall called the case “one of the most distressing and disturbing” he’d ever encountered. Both defendants showed no remorse, with behaviour described as “spiteful and sadistic.”
In a cruel twist, Tustin’s own two children lived a “perfectly happy life” just yards away from where Arthur endured “unthinkable abuse.”
Details of torment revealed in court
- Arthur was poisoned with salt
- He suffered regular beatings
- Starved and denied fluids
- Forced to stand alone for hours in a hallway
The harrowing trial at coventry/" title="Coventry" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">Coventry Crown Court laid bare the sickening cruelty behind Arthur’s tragic death.
