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.”
A man has been arrested by police investigating a “significant” wildfire that triggered a major incident in Northern Ireland.
More than 100 firefighters and 15 fire appliances were deployed on Saturday to Sandbank Road, Hilltown, to tackle the blaze which is believed to have been caused deliberately, fire chiefs said.
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the fire had a front of approximately two miles “including a large area of forestry close to property”.
It was extinguished at 2.53am on Sunday and the major incident status lifted, the NIFRS said.
“The cause of this fire is believed to have been deliberate,” chief fire and rescue officer Aidan Jennings said.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said on Sunday that a 25-year-old man had been arrested “on suspicion of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered, and non-related driving offences”.
“He remains in custody at this time as enquiries continue into the circumstances surrounding the fire,” the force added.
The wildfire on Sandbank Road, Hilltown. Pic: Sky Watch NI
More than 100 firefighters were at the scene of the fire. Pic: Sky Watch NI
Various fires erupted across England this week amid uncharacteristically warm and dry conditions for the time of year.
On Saturday, helicopters were deployed to tackle Scotland’s fourth wildfire this week, with police saying a blaze “which started in the Newton Stewart area has spread northwards and is expected to reach the Loch Doon area of East Ayrshire around 12am on Sunday”.
Police Scotland added: “As a precautionary measure members of the public are asked to avoid the Loch Doon area and anyone who may be camping in the area is advised to leave.”
Moors Valley Country Park blackened by fires this week
Elsewhere in England, Devon and Cornwall Police said they were assisting the fire service with temporary road closures on the A30 in the Bolventor area as they tackle “a number of fires” on moorland.
In Dorset, Moors Valley Country Park was forced to close after multiple wildfires broke out there on Wednesday.
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Wildfires spread across nature reserve
Separate incidents were then reported at Upton Heath in Poole on Wednesday, and nearby Canford Heath in the early hours of Thursday.
Friday was officially the warmest day of the year so far – with temperatures in the south of England reaching 23C (73.4F) – the highest since 21 September last year, according to the Met Office.
The weather conditions triggered a “severe” wildfire rating for parts of the UK on Tuesday.
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