Slapped to death
SADIST Darren Newton was yesterday jailed for life for the murder of his girlfriend's 15-month-old son after assaults which he filmed on his mobile phone.
Over a period of six months Newton, 32, recorded himself hitting, slapping and kicking little Charlie Hunt.
He then gave the clips titles including "Happy Slap", "Two Minutes Of Pain" and "Crying In Cot".
To the outside world, Newton looked a typical family man. He was pictured holding Charlie aloft just four months before he died.
But it hid a sinister side. And last night the role of social services in the period before Charlie's death was being looked into.
The Sun can reveal that Charlie's mother Laura Chapman, 30, lost custody of her two other children - known as Child A and Child L.
They were taken into care amid allegations of ill-treatment.
And it can also be disclosed that she was still being monitored by social workers when she started dating factory worker Newton in 2009.
Last night Lancashire Social Services chiefs confirmed a Serious Case Review into the tragedy has been launched.
Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, West Yorks, said: "Charlie's sad death obviously has chilling echoes of the Baby P tragedy. This Serious Case Review must give us guidance as to just what went so wrong.
"It was a cold-blooded and brutal murder and will touch the heart of every parent out there. It's important that this sort of child torture and killing never ever happens again."
Harrowing
Tearful jurors in Newton's murder case could barely watch as they were shown a series of harrowing clips which showed him beating Charlie.
Many began with Charlie, ten months old when first attacked, sitting quietly in his high chair or on a bean bag, gurgling.
He is then slapped by Newton on the top of his head, a particularly vulnerable spot for a child.
Charlie is heard yelping, then there is a pause, an intake of breath from the startled youngster, before he begins to bawl in pain.
Charlie raises a hand to his face in defence, looks around in obvious confusion, then the assaults continue.
No single blow is fatal, but after suffering months of such attacks, Charlie had a "dead" area of brain tissue, bleeding and bruising to his brain.
By the final, fatal assault he was virtually blind, with his retina damaged and optic nerve detached.
Prosecutors say in the last attack Newton must have hit Charlie harder than ever before, causing his collapse and death.
Kicking
Two weeks before, Newton had filmed the "Happy Slap" attack.
The monster is seen hitting him over the head 13 times, kicking him on the floor and twisting his ear while the youngster put his hands up in an attempt to defend himself.
Yesterday the jury took just 40 minutes to find Newton guilty of murder and child cruelty.
The judge, Mr Justice Stephen Irwin, said he would serve a minimum 24 years and ordered the video clips to be stored so that officials can view them in future when considering his possible release.
The judge told Newton: "Anyone who watches the video clips will genuinely struggle to understand why you came to do this.
"Eventually you killed him. It was a futile and wasteful death of an innocent toddler.
"Part of the wickedness of what you did was the complete contrast between the sympathetic and affectionate picture you presented to the outside world.
"Charlie was in your care and you abused that trust, he was vulnerable and your offending traded on his vulnerability. He was too young to tell his mother what you were doing, so she could prevent it.
"Your course of conduct was deliberate and sustained cruelty. I direct that copies of the video clips are preserved and must be available and should be watched by the authorities who will consider the question of your release."
Newton, of Earby, Lancs, had previously admitted 12 counts of cruelty but denied murder telling the court: "I loved Charlie."
Prosecutor Dennis Watson QC told the jury of seven men and five women at Manchester Crown Court that Newton "took pleasure from the fact that Charlie was the victim of his cruel and wicked behaviour".
Mr Watson said that Newton had "a dark and wicked side" which was only discovered after Charlie had died.
Yesterday he showed no emotion as the verdict was met with cries from the public gallery. Charlie's anguished dad Richard, 44, shouted "Yes, thank you" - and motioned the sign of the cross as the verdict was read.
Mother Laura was not in court to hear the verdict - and it is believed she was snowed-in at her remote home. But in a victim impact statement read to the court, she said she would "live with the error of my judgement till the day I die".
Prosecutor Watson added: "Laura Chapman outlines her feelings of being fooled by the defendant, her blaming herself for not suspecting the defendant or what he was doing. The fact that she feels she failed Charlie.
"She also describes in her statement the difficulty she has with people believing that she was an unfit mother because she ought to have known what was going on."
The judge said people would be "entirely wrong" to leave the court believing that she was at fault in not realising what was happening.
Outside court DCI Andy Murphy said: "I am pleased with today's verdict.
"This was a truly horrific and devastating crime committed by a man who has shown little or no remorse for his actions, or even offered any sort of explanation
"Darren Newton will be spending a very long time behind bars."
Darren Newton jailed for life for murder of girlfriend’s 15-month-old son | The Sun |News
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