Ex-footballer Kiernan Hughes-Mason violently assaulted former partner’s two-year-old daughter
A former professional footballer has been convicted of violently assaulting a two-year-old girl, leaving her with “life-changing” injuries that require 24-hour care.
Kiernan Hughes-Mason, 32, was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and child cruelty after his ex-partner’s daughter was found with serious injuries at an address in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, in January 2020.
During the trial, the prosecution barrister said one doctor compared the child’s injuries to a “high-speed road traffic accident” or a “fall from a substantial height of several storeys”.
Hughes-Mason claimed he heard a loud bang from the girl’s bedroom and believed she had fallen on a dollhouse, leaving her conscious but unresponsive while in his care on 31 January 2020.
The girl was taken to Southend Hospital, but her injuries were so severe she was placed in an induced coma and taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital for further treatment.
Medics found 17 different injuries to her face, chest, back and legs, which are believed to have been sustained between October 2019 and January 2020.
The toddler remained in a coma for 14 days and suffered life-changing brain injuries.
Hughes-Mason, who was 28 at the time of the attack, was arrested on 14 February 2020.
Investigators found that, in the days leading up to the assault, he sent text messages which said how angry caring for his then partner’s daughter made him, saying: “She’s actually getting on my nerves” and “I’m gonna hit her”.
After a three-week trial, Hughes-Mason was found guilty of both charges following five hours of deliberation by the jury.
The family of the victim said after the conviction: “We finally have a verdict and that man is now held accountable for what he did to our little girl.
“We have had to go through what no family should ever have to experience, and our girl is going to bear the consequences of what he has done to her for the rest of her life.”
Read more from Sky News:
Prison had ’81 points of failure’ after alleged jailbreak
Grim budget on the horizon, with likely tax rises
Five bodies found after superyacht sinks
During the trial, the prosecution said Hughes-Mason was “keen from the outset to portray himself to the police as the doting stepfather who treated the children as his own, saying how much he loved them.
“Yet in his text messages written at the time, he constantly referred to them as ‘your children,’ or ‘your child’ to the child’s mother. He regularly belittled them, talked about them as if they were stupid and put them down.
“In respect of the head and brain injury that the child suffered… the experts all agree that the pattern of injuries found is consistent with the child having been vigorously shaken… with her head likely being hit against a hard surface.
“The only explanation for the pattern of injuries suffered by the child was that they were inflicted by this defendant and inflicted deliberately.”
Hughes-Mason started out his career at Championship side Millwall, before playing for several English Football League and non-league clubs including Welling United, Leatherhead and more recently managing Enfield Borough.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Enfield Borough said they had fired Mason-Hughes as manager “in light of recent revelations regarding serious legal matters from [his] past, which were not disclosed during the hiring process”.
Meanwhile, Hashtag United, where Hughes-Mason was a reserve team manager and ex-player, said his conviction was “deeply shocking” and the crimes were “frankly sickening”.
“We can categorically say that the club had no knowledge whatsoever of these events until today. We are told that the crimes he has now been found guilty of occurred before he joined us.
“Some serious flaws have been exposed in procedures as we’d received confirmation from the relevant authorities that he was clear to coach as part of standard background checks.”
The club also expressed its sympathy with the victim and her family, saying: “We can’t possibly imagine what they have been going through since these horrific events took place.”
Hughes-Mason will be sentenced on 10 September at Basildon Crown Court.
Large groups of youths have been throwing fireworks, bricks and bottles at police in Edinburgh, during a night of disorder across the city.
Video posted online shows officers responding to Bonfire Night incidents in the Sighthill, Niddrie, Gracemount and Gilmerton areas.
Riot police have been seen on the streets of Edinburgh, wearing helmets and carrying shields, as fireworks were lit and exploded around them.
Footage from Gilmerton, a suburb in the southeast of the city, also showed burning debris in the street as youths rode on bicycles.
Police in Edinburgh were deployed to several areas, including the suburb of Gilmerton
Police were given extra stop and search powers in certain areas following “intelligence” about planned disorder and firework-related crime.
Superintendent Neil Wilson said: “We are currently responding to incidents of disorder involving large groups of youths throwing a range of objects, including fireworks, bricks and bottles, across Edinburgh.”
A helicopter was also deployed as part of Operation Moonbeam, aimed at supporting local police in tackling fireworks-related offences.
Officers used shields to take cover from fireworks
Meanwhile Lothian Buses withdrew all services from the Niddrie area for safety reasons.
Niddrie was also the scene of disorder on 31 October, when police and public transport vehicles were pelted with fireworks and bricks.
Youths rode on bicycles near officers, as debris burned in the street
On Tuesday, officers in Glasgow seized a “significant quantity” of fireworks from a van in the Drumchapel area which it is alleged were being “sold to the general public, including children”.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass cull of poultry after bird flu outbreak
Gaza teen forced to separate from family
Glastonbury announces ticket buying changes
Scotland’s first fireworks control zones (FCZ) are in place in parts of Edinburgh and Glasgow from 1 to 10 November.
Those convicted of setting off a firework within a FCZ face a fine of up to £5,000 and up to six months in jail.
Meanwhile, it appears the famous Lewes bonfire night celebrations in East Sussex went off without incident after police urged people not to attend because of overcrowding concerns.
Effigies of Nigel Farage and Paula Vennells were burnt in Lewes Pic: PA
The so-called “bonfire capital of the world” is famous for burning effigies of controversial politicians and celebrities.
This year they included former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The Queen is unwell with a chest infection and has withdrawn from her engagements this week, Buckingham Palace has announced.
A palace spokesperson said Camilla’s doctors “have advised a short period of rest” and added that “with great regret, Her Majesty has therefore had to withdraw from her engagements for this week”.
They added the Queen “very much hopes to be recovered in time to attend this weekend’s Remembrance events as normal”.
“She apologises to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result,” they said.
It is understood the Queen is currently resting at home and is under doctor’s supervision.
Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester, has stepped in on Camilla’s behalf to attend the annual opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.
The Queen has also withdrawn from a Buckingham Palace reception for Olympic and Paralympic athletes hosted by the King on the same evening.
Read more:
William in South Africa for ‘milestone moment’
King will not attend COP29 conference
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Camilla recently returned from an overseas tour of Australia and Samoa. No further details regarding her illness or treatment have been released.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway