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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Caroline Davies and agency

Couple jailed for at least 21 years for murder of vulnerable man in their care

Kenneth Newton and Melanie James
Kenneth Newton and Melanie James’s ‘cruel’ behaviour towards their victim was demonstrated in videos shown to the jury. Composite: Staffordshire police/PA

A couple convicted of murder after inflicting “deliberate cruelty” on a vulnerable 28-year-old man in their care, who at the time of his death weighed just 40kg (6st 4lb), have been jailed for life.

Rubin Blount was made to stand for long periods of time, left to lie in his own urine and forced to eat out of bins by his stepbrother Kenneth Newton and Newton’s partner, Melanie James, at a property in Tamworth, Staffordshire, Stafford crown court heard.

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