Thomas Hughes, the father of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, has had his sentence increased for manslaughter from 21 years to 24 in prison.
He was jailed alongside Arthur's stepmother, Emma Tustin who received a life term of 29 years, in December last year for the murder of the young boy. The pair appealed the length of their sentences at the Court of Appeal.
While Tustin's jail term has remained unchanged, three years were added to Hughes's sentence for being unduly lenient.
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Lord Burnett said in Friday’s judgment: “We consider that there is substance in the Attorney General’s argument relating to manslaughter that in encouraging Tustin to harm Arthur in the way he did there was a substantial risk that she would do something that would kill him.”
He continued: “The manslaughter bristled with aggravating features including as grave a breach of trust as can be imagined in respect of a small boy who was especially vulnerable, not least as a result of Hughes’ own conduct. He lied to Arthur’s school to keep him at home to protect both himself and Tustin.”
The judge added: “Without the cruelty offences the manslaughter deserved a sentence of 18 years or more. The judge’s view was that the offence fell just short of murder and, as we have said, the risk of death, given the preceding conduct, was real.
“In our view the appropriate sentence is one of 24 years’ imprisonment to take account of all the offending.”
Discussing Tustin's sentence, he said: "Anyone considering the detailed written materials that we have seen, and CCTV footage, would find it hard to contemplate how anyone, let alone someone with joint responsibility for his care, could have treated Arthur as Tustin did.
“The child cruelty in which she engaged was at the top end of the scale for sentencing purposes, had it been considered in isolation.”
The judge continued: “The mechanisms of assault reflected explosive violence calculated to cause maximum harm rather than any sadism in the usual sense of the word.
“It would not alone have taken this case into 30-year minimum territory. It was the antecedent protracted and serious cruelty which did have an element of sadism that, on the judge’s reasoning, firmly placed this case at a minimum starting point of 30 years.”
He continued: “In our view, the judge was right to take a starting point of 30 years for the principal reason he gave, namely that to do so properly reflected the seriousness of the murder of Arthur and the dreadful cruelty for which Tustin was responsible that preceded it.”
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