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.
Newton, 58, and James, 64, both from Birmingham, who had filmed themselves mocking and abusing the victim, were convicted by a jury in July of his murder.
Jailing them each for a minimum of 21 years, Mrs Justice Jefford said they had been in a position of trust which they had abused and had shown an “abject failure to help him when he was in pain and suffering”.
Blount was severely dehydrated and malnourished when he was taken to hospital after he became unwell, and he had a cardiac arrest upon arrival. He died three days later on 30 November 2022.
Doctors found he had extensive pneumonia, severe infection, fractures to his ribs and spine, and burns, lesions and grazes. He had 50 rib fractures, 47 of which had been inflicted in the weeks leading up to his death.
Jennifer Josephs KC, prosecuting, told Friday’s sentencing hearing that Blount had been described as “considerably mentally impaired” and was particularly vulnerable, and that the defendants’ “cruel” behaviour towards him was demonstrated in videos shown to the jury.
Josephs said Blount must have been in “extreme pain and suffering” before his death, and the couple had denied him access to medical care until he was “beyond help”.
“Mr Blount’s death was the culmination of a prolonged course of conduct perpetrated against a man who was unable to speak for himself,” she said.
Blount’s mother, Jeanette Blount, said in a victim impact statement that her son was vulnerable and deserved “compassion, dignity and a chance to live his life”.
“We all believed they loved him and would take care of him. We had no reason to believe otherwise,” she said.
The judge said a series of videos made by the defendants on 2 November 2022 “show Rubin emaciated, gaunt, stooped and broken, standing in the doorway”. Videos showed the pair mocking him and flinging abuse at him while he was “unable to defend himself or even walk away”.
“The first 25 rib fractures were inflicted before or shortly after this recording was made,” she added.
James sobbed as the court was told that the abuse and violence inflicted on Blount went on for months.
Rebecca Wade KC, defending James, said: “No one could fail to be disgusted by Melanie James’s actions towards this vulnerable man. She is a woman who has had a difficult life of her own.
“There is some evidence to show that at one point she did care for Rubin and did love him, and him her.” Something “shifted”, she said, due to James’s “ability to cope with the stresses and strains of life and that was much to Rubin’s detriment”.
Mark Heywood KC, defending Newton, said Blount was, through no fault of his own, a “challenging” person to care for. The circumstances leading to his death “can’t be dealt with as simply as saying he was financially advantageous for them, or that he became a burden”, he said. The couple were “ill-equipped”.
Speaking outside the court, DCI Ian Fitzgerald, of Staffordshire police, said: “The extent of the injuries Rubin suffered, the state that he was in and the arrogance [of the defendants] in the way they thought they could try and get away with it and blame him for his injuries was shocking and very, very distressing.”
