The devastated birth mother of little Harvey Borrington described him as "my beautiful little boy". Addressing the court, while Harvey's cruel stepmother sat silent in the dock after she killed him, Katie Holroyd spoke of her memories of him.
"He was everything to me," said Miss Holroyd as she fought back tears in the witness stand at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday (March 16). "A treasured grandson to my parents, Sandra and Alan Hoyroyd, who called Harvey their 'little man'.
Borrington, 23, was found guilty of his manslaughter in February, and cleared of Harvey's murder, and was jailed on Thursday (March 16) for 15 years. The three-year-old, who had non-verbal autism, sustained fatal head injuries, including a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain, at Borrington's home in Main Road, Jacksdale, near Mansfield, on August 7, 2021.
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Miss Holroyd said:: "I wanted to write a treasured memory we have with Harvey, but they are all treasured. Even the little things that most peole would take for granted like when he would want me to pick him up and dance around the kitchen".
"We sat and had a picnic and watched the boats"
Out of all the memories she said Matlock would be her favourite after they had a long walk up the cliffs where she had to carry Harvey most of the way.
"We sat and had a picnic and watched the boats, he loved them and didn't want to leave. He just stood smiling while looking at them.
"We finally got him to carry on walking". Harvey had chocolate icecream and they ended the day playing on the park for an hour.
"Since the 9th August, 2021, not a day has gone by where we haven't woken up broken by the thought that will will never hold him again, hear his laugh or watch him grow up," she continued.
"Harvey's life was cruelly ended when he was only three years old, killed by the very person who was trusted to care for him and protect him. To this day I cannot bear to think of him lying on that floor dying with her filming him and delaying getting medical help for him.
"To have it confirmed that Harvey, before his death, had been assaulted by Leila Borrington will be a lifelong torment for now. A recurring nightmare which I will never be able to wake from.
"My beautiful boy couldn't talk, he couldn't articulate the suffering he had to endure. He couldn't tell me he didn't want to go.
"Leila knew this when she abused him and then killed him in a violent attack.
"Since that dreadful day in August 2021, we have sat and listened to others talk about his "difficulties", his "conditions" and his "diagnosis". Those differences, however, were what made Harvey so very special.
"He was the most loving boy anyone could have wished for, and we will always treasure the short time we got to spend with him. What has been so difficult is the fact that Leila Borrington lied about what she did to Harvey.
"She chose to lie, no doubt to try and save herself. However, this selfish and cruel act meant as a family we had to endure weeks of listening to medical evidence about the horrific injuries Harvey sustained.
"She knew what she had done to him, and she could have said so from the start. Instead, she made the decision to lie which increased our pain and heartache further.
Miss Holroyd also said the evidence given by the doctors was "really, really hard to listen to and, at times, me and my mum had to leave court"- as they could not bear to hear the evidence about what happened. Miss Holroyd also said she found the evidence from two pathologists "particularly harrowing".
"Knowing parts of my baby were removed and sent around the country to establish what happened all because she chose to lie. I will never be able to explain and no one will ever be about to understand what this means to me as Harvey's mum".
She spoke of the effect on her parents and how her father, Alan, has withdrawn from life, "his purpose as protector of the family has been lost. I don't recognise him anymore, our loss is beyond words".
She also said there was no sentence that can be given to Borrington that will fix the harm done. "The pain, the suffering, the loss that we have to deal with as a family will continue for the rest of our lives".
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