Alfie Phillips murder: Mother Sian Hedges and her ex-boyfriend Jack Benham jailed for murdering toddler in ‘frenzied attack’
The mother of an 18-month-old boy and her former partner have been given life sentences for his murder.
Alfie Phillips was beaten and smothered, suffering 70 injuries to his body, including a “myriad of bruises” and broken ribs, arms and legs, in what prosecutors described as a night of “violent discipline”.
His mother, Sian Hedges, 27, and her ex-boyfriend Jack Benham, 35, had been drinking whisky and taking cocaine. Traces of the Class A drug were found in Alfie’s body, Maidstone Crown Court was told.
The pair were found guilty of murdering the toddler in Benham’s caravan in Hernhill, near Faversham, Kent, on 28 November 2020.
Sian Hedges and Jack Benham. Pic: Kent Police
In his sentencing remarks, the judge said Alfie suffered “unimaginable pain” in the “frenzied attack”.
They were both given life sentences, with Benham jailed for a minimum term of 23 years while Hedges was given a minimum term of 19 years.
Following the guilty verdicts in November, Alfie’s father, Sam Phillips, described his son as “good as gold” and “lively”, adding there was “never a dull moment” with him.
Speaking after today’s sentencing, he said: “They finally got what they deserved.
“We have got the justice in our hearts.
“Justice has been done.”
Alfie Phillips
The court heard Benham and Hedges started a relationship in September 2020 after meeting at a mutual friend’s house where they would buy drugs.
They gave explanations for earlier injuries Alfie suffered in the months before his death, claiming he cut his eye when playing with keys and hurt his fingers when they were caught in a dog gate.
The court heard Benham sent Hedges a text encouraging her to bite her son “hard” after she messaged him: “Little s*** bit my arm this morning, f****** hurt.”
In other messages, Benham called Alfie a “cry baby” and “little sod”, saying he was going to “poke him in the ear” after he turned off his caravan heater.
Benham claimed he and Hedges had been drinking, chatting and watching YouTube videos on a “just normal” evening before Alfie died.
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Moment Alfie Phillips’ mother arrested
Night of ‘violent discipline’
But prosecutor Jennifer Knight KC accused Benham of lying and told jurors: “It is clear that he [Alfie] had been deliberately injured on more than one occasion, culminating in an assault perpetrated on him during the night of 27 to 28 November 2020 that led to his death.”
She added: “Jack Benham and Sian Hedges were in the caravan together throughout the night.
“Had either defendant not been joining in with the assaults, that defendant who was not part of it would have stopped the attack and removed Alfie Phillips from the caravan, and from the presence of the other who was carrying out these attacks.
“The fact that this did not happen can only be because both defendants agreed that the assaults should take place… they both agreed in meting out some sort of aggressive, violent discipline to Alfie that night, which resulted in his death.”
Alfie’s father: ‘I will never know the truth about what happened’
Both Hedges, of Yelverton, Devon, and Benham denied harming Alfie during the trial.
Benham claimed he woke up with the boy under his leg and thought he had suffocated him.
In a victim impact statement read in court, Mr 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.”
Commenting on the sentencing, Will Bodiam from CPS South East, said: “This is an absolutely tragic case. Alfie was killed by the two people, one of whom was his own mother, who were responsible that night for looking after him and protecting him.
“Instead, they subjected him to a series of assaults during the course of that fateful night, leaving him with devastating injuries that he could not survive.”
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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