Emma Tustin, a child killer who beat her stepson to death, had her food laced in salt by her cellsmates as retribution for the cruelty she did to the 6-year-old.
Following her conviction for the murder of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo Hughes at her Solihull West Midlands home, 32-years-old had been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum period of 29 year.
His father, Thomas Hughes, was also jailed for 21 years after being convicted of manslaughter for encouraging the killing, including by sending a text message to Tustin hours before the fatal assault telling her ‘just end him’.
Tustin’s former cellmate, Tustin, claimed that Eastwood Park Prison prisoners laced their meals with salt in retaliation for the terrible abuses she suffered at Arthur.
Meanwhile, the devastated grandfather of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes has said ‘no punishment could be enough’ for the youngster’s evil killers as he reconsiders his opposition to the death penalty.
Peter Halcrow, 61, of Dunkeld, Perthshire, said Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes have ‘forfeited their right to live’ and should ‘never see the light of day again’ following his beloved grandsons horrific death.
Through a harrowing nine-week trial at Coventry Crown Court, it was revealed Tustin forced Arthur to consume ‘an absolute minimum’ of 34 grams hours before she battered him to death.
Emma Tustin, 32, (left) killed Arthur Labinjo-Hughes by slamming his head on a hard surface after she and 29-year-old Thomas Hughes starved the youngster and poisoned him with salt
It was revealed Arthur had been made to consume at least 34g of salt in the hours before his death leading to a sodium level which was ‘off the scale’ by the time he reached hospital
The trial heard Arthur was found to have the equivalent of six teaspoons of salt in his blood, leading to hospital readings which were ‘off the scale’.
Analysis of Arthur’s blood upon his admission to hospital recorded sodium levels between 180 and 187.2 millimoles per litre (mmol/L) – a normal range of sodium is around 140 mmol/L.
Children’s kidney consultant Dr Malcolm Coulthard said the results indicated a ‘massive dose’ of salt was given to the boy and that poisoning was the only available diagnosis.
He calculated that Arthur must have consumed 34g of salt as an ‘absolute minimum’ to record a reading of above 180 mmol/L.
The trial was told that the reading could only be explained by ingesting large quantities of salt in the hours before he was taken to hospital.
As a response to the abuse, Tustin’s cellmates have been spiking her meals with salt at Eastwood Park Prison, it has been claimed.
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with father Thomas Hughes and Emma Tustin who has been convicted of murder while Hughes, 29, is guilty of manslaughter after a trial at Coventry Crown Court
Her former cellmate, Elaine Pritchard, told the Sunday Mirror: ‘Some of the things we did were cruel – but she was crueller to Arthur so she deserved it.’
Elaine spent six weeks locked up with Tustin while she was on remand and also told the newspaper Tustin never mentioned Arthur and instead claimed she was in prison because Hughes had ‘neglected’ his son.
Elaine, who was recalled to prison for battery and criminal damage, told the publication: ‘Emma hadn’t said anything about Arthur dying. She never mentioned him.’
She claimed she only found out about Tustin’s charges after finding her case paperwork, with Elaine saying she grew ‘angry’ after reading about Arthur’s 130 bruises, resulting in the pair having a row.
She said she asked Tustin how she didn’t notice Arthur’s bruising while giving him a bath, to which she alleged Tustin responded that she ‘gave him a towel’.
Elaine, who also gave evidence at Tustin’s trial, added: ‘I pressed the bell and said if the prison officers didn’t get her out then I’d be staying there a long time.’
Tustin was moved to a different cell, but inmates began lacing her meals with salt after learning about how she had poisoned Arthur, Elaine claimed.
Last week, it was reported Tustin had complained that inmates were throwing salt at her while she was on remand at HMP Peterborough.
During the trial, the court heard that Tustin had tried to take an overdose and attempted to hang herself to avoid facing punishment for murdering tragic Arthur.
Her solicitor, Mary Prior QC, described her as a ‘high suicide risk’ and added that she had been ‘obliged to terminate a pregnancy.’
Tustin was pregnant with Hughes’ baby when she violently attacked Arthur, undergoing an abortion in custody at 21 weeks.
Mr Justice Mark Walll QC slammed the pair as he jailed them, saying the case was ‘without doubt one of the most distressing and disturbing’ he has ever dealt with.
He said: ‘This cruel and inhuman treatment of Arthur was a deliberate decision by you to brush off his cries for help as naughtiness.’
Addressing Tustin, he continued: ‘You are a manipulative woman who will tell any lie, and shift the blame onto anyone, to save your own skin.’
The shameless stepmother refused to leave her cell to face justice for her campaign of horror on the youngster.
It comes as Arthur’s devastated family, friends and neighbours gathered near the tragic six-year-old’s home for a heartbreaking vigil yesterday afternoon.
The murdered youngster’s grandmother was among those who burst into tears as they paid tribute to him down the road from where his sick stepmother and father killed him in Solihull, West Midlands.
Mourners laid flowers, teddies and emotional messages as well as let off balloons as they remembered the boy’s short life.
The harrowing scenes come as Arthur’s uncle released a new video of the child where he talked about how he dreamt of becoming a professional footballer.
Mourners laid flowers, teddies and emotional messages as well as letting off balloons as they remembered the boy’s short life during an emotional vigil held in Solihull on Sunday afternoon
Daniel Hughes, the boy’s paternal uncle, said he wanted his nephew to be remembered like this – talking about playing for Liverpool, Tottenham and England.
Meanwhile the government confirmed it would launch major review into the circumstances which led to Arthur’s death.
It aims to determine what improvements are needed by the agencies that came into contact with Arthur in the months before he was murdered by stepmother Emma Tustin at their home in Solihull.
The National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel will lead the review and will provide additional support to Solihull Children’s Safeguarding Partnership to ‘upgrade’ the already existing local review which was launched shortly after Arthur’s death in June 2020.
The action comes after it emerged in court the boy had been seen by social workers just two months before his death, but they concluded there were ‘no safeguarding concerns’.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: ‘Arthur’s murder has shocked and appalled the nation.
‘I am deeply distressed by this awful case and the senseless pain inflicted on this poor boy, who has been robbed of the chance to live his life.
The emotional scenes came after the government confirmed it would launch major review into the circumstances which led to Arthur’s death which examine what lessons can be learned
Pictured: People gather to pay tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin’s former home in Solihull, West Midlands, during an emotional vigil on Sunday afternoon
Football also continued to send its support to him, with Norwich City versus Tottenham showing a picture of him and the text ‘you are loved’ on the big screen during their match in London
‘I have taken immediate action and asked for a joint inspection to consider where improvements are needed by all the agencies tasked with protecting children in Solihull, so that we can be assured that we are doing everything in our power to protect other children and prevent such evil crimes.
‘Given the enormity of this case, the range of agencies involved and the potential for its implications to be felt nationally, I have also asked Annie Hudson, chair of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel, to work with leaders in Solihull to deliver a single, national review of Arthur’s death to identify where we must learn from this terrible case.
‘We are determined to protect children from harm and where concerns are raised we will not hesitate to take urgent and robust action. We will not rest until we have the answers we need.’
The Children’s Commissioner for England also said yesterday the voices of children ‘must’ be listened to when asked about the boy’s killing.
Dame Rachel de Souza said more must be done to support social workers to spot similar cases, but the coronavirus lockdown has ‘weakened’ the system.
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes’ devastated family, friends and neighbours gathered near the tragic six-year-old’s home for a heartbreaking vigil this afternoon
Solihull’s Local Child Safeguarding Partnership launched an independent review after it emerged in court the boy had been seen by social workers just two months before his death, but they concluded there were ‘no safeguarding concerns’.
New figures showed that nearly 50,000 vulnerable children may have ‘dropped off the radar’ of social services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The number of new cases referred to children’s services departments fell by 45,220 – or 7 per cent – from 2019-20 to 2020-21.
The total dropped to 597,760 for the year to March 2021, the lowest figure since records began in 2013. By contrast, the total for 2018-19, before the pandemic, was 650,930.
The Department for Education said the sharp reduction was driven by a fall in referrals from schools, which were closed for most pupils during lockdown.
Tim Loughton, a former children’s minister, said the pandemic had put vulnerable children such as Arthur Labinjo-Hughes at greater risk.
‘There was an increase in child abuse because of course they were off the radar,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
A former children’s commissioner also suggested the lockdown helped Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes carry out their reign of terror largely unchecked.
Arthur Labinjo Hughes’s grandfather, who is now in shock after his son’s death sentence rejection, has now said that ‘no punishment can be sufficient’ to punish the evil young killers.
Peter Halcrow of Dunkeld in Perthshire (61), said Emma Tustin & Thomas Hughes have forfeited [their right to life]” and should “never see daylight again”, following the tragic deaths of his beloved grandsons.
Grandfather of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes Peter Halcrow (above), 61, of Dunkeld, Perthshire, said Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes have ‘forfeited their right to live’
He declared: “They will never see daylight again.” This couple could never be punished enough.
According to him, “I’ve never supported the death penalty as I understand that courts can make mistakes, but they’ve forfeited my right to live” he said to The Sun.
“It will cost taxpayers, but since we don’t have capital punishment they shouldn’t be sent to prison for any reason other than cruelty or inhumanity.
According to the grandfather of the youngster, who operates a cafe in town, he is’shocked’ and’mystified’ at how Thomas and Tustin managed to continue their horrific abuses while social workers did not raise any safeguarding concerns.
Peter, the father of Arthur, is Olivia LabinjoHalcrow. Olivia, a 29-year old biological mother to Arthur, stabbed Gary Cunningham 12 times in an drunken rage and killed him with a knife.
In July 2021, she was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of manslaughter and sentenced to eleven years imprisonment.