Mother and ex-boyfriend jailed over 18-month-old boy’s murder in caravan

A mother and her former partner have been jailed for the murder of her 18-month-old son in a night of “violent discipline” in a caravan.

Mr Justice Cavanagh sentenced Sian Hedges, 27, and Jack Benham, 35, at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 19 years and 23 years respectively for the whisky and cocaine-fuelled killing of Alfie Phillips.

The pair were found guilty of Alfie’s murder after a nine-week trial where a unanimous verdict was reached in under 10 hours by the jury.

Alfie suffered 70 injuries to his body in the overnight attack by Hedges and Benham in his caravan in Hernhill, Kent.

The little boy died with a “myriad of bruises”, broken ribs, arms and a leg, and traces of cocaine in his body, on November 28 2020, the court heard.

Hedges, of Yelverton, Devon and Benham, of Hernhill, Kent, had denied harming Alfie.

In a victim impact statement read in court, Alfie’s father Sam Phillips said:

“After the trial we still feel we deserve answers. I will never know the truth about what happened to my son.

“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.”

In his sentencing remarks, Mr Justice Cavanagh said it was a “great tragedy” Alfie did not have the chance to “enjoy a full and happy life”.

He said: “He (Alfie) had a cheeky grin and was full of energy and life. He was into everything and interested in everything. He melted the hearts of everyone he met.

“The victim impact statements of his father, Sam Phillips, and his grandfather, Mark Demain, vividly illustrate how much he was loved and how much grief and devastation his murder has caused to those who loved him.

“It is a great tragedy that Alfie did not have the chance to grow up and to enjoy a full and happy life.”

Addressing the defendants, Mr Justice Cavanagh described the attack as “cruel and brutal” and criticised their efforts to try to cover up the assault.

He added: “Your first thoughts were for yourselves. You lied about what had happened in the caravan, and you maintained your lies through police interviews and at trial.”

Both Hedges’ and Benham’s sentences are minus 313 days already spent in custody on remand.

In a statement after the sentencing, Kent Police’s senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Kathleen Way, said: “Hedges and Benham inflicted unimaginable suffering on Alfie during a night of violence.

“He should have been protected and loved by his mother, but instead lost his life in appalling circumstances.

“Throughout the investigation they refused to admit what they had done and chose to put the rest of Alfie’s family, who loved him dearly, through the ordeal of a trial. As a result they had to hear the grim catalogue of injuries and abuse he had suffered.

“This was a harrowing case for all those involved.”