6-year-old murdered boy Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was forced to sleep on the floor and stand in the hallway for entire days, new documents reveal.
Little Arthur was found dead in June after collapsing from fatal head injuries following months of mental and physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, 29-year-old Thomas Hughes, and the man’s new girlfriend, 32-year-old Emma Tustin.
It was previously revealed that the pair subjected the young boy to systematic torment “designed to terrorize” him through beatings, psychological harassment, and poisoning with salt.
Though prosecutors insisted the child’s treatment could be classified as a “medical definition of child torture,” both Tustin and Hughes denied child cruelty and murder charges.
It has now been revealed that Hughes admitted to developing cruel tactics and punishments methods for his son in interviews with the police.
“I’ll be honest. Now, I’ve had a taste of it, it was the same as prison. It wasn’t nice and it was wrong,” the 29-year-old allegedly said.
As the court heard, Hughes revealed how he punished his son by making him sleep on the floor or forcing him to stand in the hallway from morning to evening. He also recalled the times he slapped him and cut his favorite shirt into pieces.
Hughes also admitted to sending disturbing messages to Tustin and telling her to “bounce” the boy’s head and “kill him.”
Though the boy’s post-mortem revealed he had as many as 130 bruises all over his body, the father insists he didn’t want to hurt his son.
“I never intended to hurt him. It’s a case of discipline gone too far. Gone horribly wrong,” he said.
“It paints me as a monster I’m aware.
“That last few months I effectively turned into a monster. That’s how I’m going to be seen now. I’m not going to be the dad whose boy worshipped the ground he walked on.”
In his early interviews with the police, Hughes also insisted he was the only person to blame for his son’s death while describing his girlfriend as ‘Mother Teresa’.
“I put Arthur in that position, I’m accountable for it. I don’t believe anyone else is,” he said.
“I put Arthur in that position and I have to deal with that. I know it’s a long way off but I’m guilty, I make no bones of it. I don’t want other people to suffer for my ignorance, my neglect.”
Both defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder charges. While Tustin pleaded guilty to one child cruelty charge, Hughes denied all charges.
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