In the wake of the harrowing child abuse case of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, Boris Johnson has backed a new petition to introduce Arthur’s Law. Here’s everything you need to know.
What happened to Arthur Labinjo-Hughes?
The UK has been left disturbed after learning about the abuse and eventual killing of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes from Solihull, West Midlands, by his evil step-mother and father.
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For months, Arthur was forced to eat salt-laden food, sleep on the floor of the lounge, stand for long hours in solitude in the hallway without food or water, and receive regular beatings from his parents.
In June 2020, Emma Tustin, his cruel step-mother, called an ambulance and claimed Arthur had hit his head on the floor five times and was barely breathing. Arthur later died of his injuries at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and a postmortem found an alarmingly high level of salt in his blood, from months of being forced to consume salt-laden food and drink.
Emma Tustin and Thomas Hughes were sentenced to life in prison at Coventry Crown Court on Friday 3rd December. Tustin was found guilty of murder and child abuse and Hughes of manslaughter.
What is Arthur’s law?
Life sentences in the UK are currently 30 years and there are now calls to change that for child killers.
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After the brutal killing of young Arthur, there is now a petition to put a new law in place which would see people convicted of killing children put in prison for the rest of their lives.
The new law would be called Arthur’s Law in memory of the six-year-old and Boris Johnson has backed the proposal.
“Anyone who plans then carries out the murder of a child should never be released from prison, so we’re toughening the law to make whole-life orders the starting point for such abhorrent crimes,” the PM told The Sun.
In addition, a review into Tustin and Hughes’ prison sentences has been put in motion after they’ve been called ‘too lenient’ for two such evil, cruel individuals.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Boris Johnson, Crime