The harrowing last recorded moments of a 'tortured' six-year-old boy show him struggling to pick up his duvet from the floor where he was forced to sleep for days on end - just hours before he was savagely murdered by his father and stepmother.
The heart-wrenching clip, captured on home video, shows an emaciated Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, whose pyjamas appear to be hanging off him, grimacing in pain as he tries to pick up his cover and a special Avengers pillow, before screaming 'no one loves me'.
The youngster had been subjected to months of 'unimaginable' abuse by Thomas Hughes, 29, and Emma Tustin, 32. Today Tustin was convicted of murder; and Hughes of manslaughter, for encouraging the killing. They were both convicted of multiple counts of child abuse.
In the haunting video, Arthur is seen struggling to stand before slumping to the floor of the living room. He cries 'no one loves me' four times as he struggles to walk to the other side of the room while appearing to be suffering from a limp.
It takes him more than two whole minutes to be able to stand up, pick up his duvet and walk the distance of about two yards to a door leading to another room. In audio clips released alongside the video by West Midlands Police, played to the court, Arthur is also heard saying 'no one is going to feed me' seven times in 44 seconds.
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, six, attempts to pick up duvet from floor where he slept in video footage shown to Coventry Crown Court
The heart-wrenching clip shows an emaciated Arthur, whose pyjamas appear to be hanging off him, grimace in pain as he tries to pick up his cover and pillow
The tragic boy can be heard crying 'nobody loves me' as he is seen barely able to walk across the room
Arthur suffered an unsurvivable brain injury after suffering systematic abuse which matched the 'medical definition of child torture', including being deprived of food, made to stand for 14 hours a day and poisoned with salt.
The jury was also played voice notes of Arthur crying that were taken by Tustin during her and Hughes' campaign of cruelty.
Tustin often messaged Hughes within minutes of him leaving the home with an audio file of Arthur crying accompanied by a text saying words to the effect of 'started again' or 'still going.'
Hughes would reply with messages such as 'dig Arthur's grave', 'I'll take his neck off,' and the 'kid is getting it when I get back''.
He also sent texts saying that he would take his 'c*****g jaw off his shoulders' and told his partner 'put him out with the rubbish'.
Tustin recorded more than 200 voice notes during a three-month period, with Arthur heard calling for his uncle and grandmother in some of them.
He was also recorded asking for a drink, while in other clips Tustin's voice could be heard saying 'stand still' and other similar instructions.
The youngster had been subjected to months of 'unimaginable' abuse by his father, Thomas Hughes, 29, and stepmother, Emma Tustin, 32
Hughes met mother-of-four Tustin (pictured) online before the couple moved with Arthur into her home near Solihull in the West Midlands after the government announced the lockdown
Jurors were told the video of Arthur with the duvet was filmed on the morning of June 16 last year after he had been forced to sleep in the living room for the fifth day in a row.
In what were the final hours of Arthur's life, jurors were told he was so weak and frail he could barely lift the covers. The child was later killed as a result of having his head banged 'repeatedly against a hard surface' by Tustin.
Arthur's uncle Blake Hughes said the youngster broke out in tears after claiming that Tustin had pushed him against a wall and branded him 'ugly'.
He told the court: 'He said his mum didn't love him and had abandoned him. He then started to cry. He went on to say nobody loved him.'
Hughes admitted he would also use 'pressure points on Arthur's neck to discipline him' after seeing videos of police brutality in the US online.
He said he would use these pressure points for 'about 10 to 15 seconds' to 'help discipline him.'
Social workers were called to the home two months prior to Arthur's death after his grandmother raised concerns about bruises on his back, but no further action was taken
Prosecutor Jonas Hankin said: 'Neither can begin to justify what they did to him. Arthur was a defenceless child entirely dependent on them for his well-being.
'Arthur became a target for derision, abuse and systematic cruelty designed to cause him significant physical and mental suffering for reasons which are unfathomable.'
Arthur was taken to Birmingham's Children's Hospital and his life support was turned off in intensive care at 1am on June 17.
Arthur had moved into the care of his father after his mother, Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, was accused of killing her new partner in February 2019.
Hughes met mother-of-four Tustin online before the couple moved with Arthur into her home near Solihull in the West Midlands after the government announced a lockdown.
Social workers were called to the home two months prior to Arthur's death after his grandmother raised concerns about bruises on his back, but no further action was taken.
The FOUR missed chances to save little Arthur: How authorities IGNORED pleas about six-year-old boy's welfare from THREE family members and his teacher
Relatives of tragic Arthur Labinjo-Hughes today hit out at the failings of social workers and police who missed a raft of opportunities to save the six-year-old's life.
His maternal grandmother Madeleine Halcrow told MailOnline: 'Arthur was let down by social services and the West Midlands Police. There was an opportunity to save him and it wasn't taken.'
The nurse spoke out as Emma Tustin, 32, was convicted of murdering Arthur on June 17, 2020, during the Covid lockdown. Arthur's father Thomas Hughes, 29, was also found guilty of manslaughter for encouraging the killing, including by sending a text message to Tustin 18 hours before the fatal assault telling her 'just end him'. But he was cleared of murder.
They were both found convicted of numerous child cruelty charges after subjecting him to systematic abuse which matched the 'medical definition of child torture', including being deprived of food, made to stand for 14 hours a day and poisoned with salt.
The boy's family squarely blame Solihull Council's children's services, which failed to grasp a series of chances to stop Arthur's 'unimaginable' torture before he was murdered with 130 separate injuries.
Arthur's grandmother, Joanne Hughes, told the trial how she felt there was 'no one else to go to' after repeatedly raising her concerns with the authorities, while his uncle, Daniel, was even threatened with arrest over lockdown rules if he went back to the youngster's house to check up on him.
The child moved into his father's care after his mother, Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, 28, killed her new partner in February 2019. Hughes met mother-of-four Tustin online before the couple moved with Arthur into her home near Solihull in the West Midlands when the government declared a lockdown in March 2020.
Madeleine Halcrow said that Tustin was 'obsessed' about the idea Thomas would go back to Olivia, and that 'the only way she could get Olivia out of her life was by getting rid of Arthur'.
Tustin, who had two of her children taken into care following a suicide attempt, repeatedly complained she could not cope with Arthur's behaviour during lockdown and begged Hughes to let him return to his grandparents.
Arthur died on June 16, 2020 after suffering an 'unsurvivable head injury'. These are the four key chances the authorities missed to avert the tragedy:
ONE - Arthur's grandmother, Joanne Hughes, called social services on April 16 to say she had seen the youngster covered in bruises. However, social workers failed to spot them during a visit to his home. TWO - On April 20, Joanne also told Arthur's school what she had seen. A member of staff called social services but was told the bruises had been caused by 'play'. THREE - Arthur's uncle, Daniel Hughes, reports his concerns to police but is threatened with arrest if he tries to go back to the youngster's home. FOUR - John Dutton, Emma Tustin's stepfather, makes an anonymous call to social services weeks before Arthur's death.
Emma Tustin, 32
This image was taken by Arthur's grandmother Joanne Hughes as part of a desperate attempt to convince the authorities he was in danger
Arthur's paternal grandmother, Joanne Hughes, made a call to Solihull council's emergency team on April 16 to report bruises on his shoulders.
She also told them Arthur had said the injuries were caused by Tustin, who 'grabbed him to the face, called him names and pushed him and he bumped his head on the stairs'.
In response to her report, social worker Jayne Kavanagh and support worker Angela Scarlett-Coppage were dispatched to the family home in Shirley, Solihull, the following day.
Mrs Kavanagh told jurors she arrived to find Arthur playing outside and he appeared 'clean', 'very happy' and 'boisterous'. She was unable to spot any bruising other than a 'faint yellow' mark in the middle of his back.
After speaking Tustin and Hughes, she and Ms Scarlett-Coppage formed the view that Arthur was being cared for in a 'happy household' who were 'all getting along'.
They reported 'no safeguarding concerns' and the case was not referred for a full social services assessment. Instead they offered to put a support worker in touch under the Early Help scheme, but no work took place.
Mrs Kavanagh said she was left 'in shock' when she eventually saw the photo of dark bruises on Arthur's shoulder blades.
Asked in court if she could explain why she was unable to spot bruises which had been noticeable a day earlier, she replied: 'No'.
She added: 'I was shocked and in disbelief that these photos could have been taken the day before and my colleague and I hadn't seen anything the day afterwards.'
Arthur's maternal grandmother Madeleine Halcrow, said Joanne Hughes and her husband, Chris, visited her at her home in Birmingham in April to show her the photo of Arthur's bruises and ask if she knew how Arthur had got them.
She told MailOnline: 'I had no idea whatsoever because I'd been blocked from having any contact with Arthur by Thomas and I hadn't seen him since October 21, 2019.
'I immediately called Solihull social services but they told me that they'd already been to see Arthur and they didn't have any issues.
'I sent them the photographs of his back and then called the police who said they'd also gone to the house and like social services they had no worries as the property was ''immaculate''.
'My response was to say ''so an immaculate house doesn't constitute child abuse then?'' As far as I'm aware there were no more visits after that.
'Both the police and social services were lied to by Thomas and Emma who told them that the bruise was from 'boisterous play'. I know it's difficult because there hadn't been previous contact with Arthur but nothing was done when it should have been.'
The nurse added: 'The whole social services department failed Arthur. They must have seen how poorly Arthur was, how fatigued and weak he was. He died just eight weeks later.'
Solihull's £122,294 Director of Children's Services at the time, Louise Rees, 60, left in August before the trial began. Rees' LinkedIn profile boasts that she is now 'retired and loving it'.
Arthur had been on social services' radar for three years. In 2018 he was referred to them twice over concerns about his mother, Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, an alcoholic and drug user who was eventually jailed for stabbing to death her lover.
Solihull's £122,294 Director of Children's Services at the time of Arthur's death, Louise Rees, 60, (pictured) left in August before the trial began
On April 20, a desperate Joanne Hughes told Arthur's school about the referral to social services she had made four days earlier.
Michelle Hull, safeguarding lead at Dickens Heath Community Primary School, then contacted social services to alert them to Joanne's report but was told they had 'no concerns'.
Ms Hull told jurors: '[Mrs Hughes]
