Couple found guilty murdering abused boy, three

A couple were today found guilty of murdering a three-year-old boy who died in hospital on Christmas Eve after being abused, neglected and beaten.

A jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court in England took seven hours to convict Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn of killing Ryan Lovell-Hancox in an attack at their flat in Bilston, West Midlands, in December 2008.

A four-week trial heard that Ryan’s mother was paying around £40 (€44) a week for Taylor, 25, and 19-year-old Boleyn to look after Ryan while she decorated her home in the month before the boy’s death.

The pair were also convicted of child cruelty.

They are thought to have escalated their cruelty against Ryan in the week before his death.

Detectives believe the killers hid Ryan from his mother on the day before he suffered a fatal brain injury because of severe bruising in the shape of a hand-print on his jaw, which would have made their neglect obvious.

Detective Inspector Graeme Squire, who led the murder inquiry, said Taylor and Boleyn are the only people who know the exact nature of the treatment meted out to Ryan.

But officers are convinced the pair committed the offences together and may even have egged each other on to abuse Ryan.

When they were arrested, the three-year-old was still alive in hospital and both Taylor and Boleyn said he had been injured when he slipped in the bath.

Mr Squire said: “We have had in court and in interviews, various versions of events given by Taylor and Boleyn.

“The initial version of events from both was that he had fallen in the bath, hitting his head. We weren’t convinced about that as a version of events because of the sheer number of injuries and the nature of the injuries.”

Photographs of some of the dozens of bruises which had been inflicted on Ryan were then shown to Boleyn and she changed her account, blaming Taylor for his injuries.

Detectives are certain that when Amy Hancox called to collect Ryan and take him back to her home for Christmas on December 21, 2008, Boleyn and Taylor needed to hide the youngster because of his injuries.

Wolverhampton Crown Court was told that Miss Hancox found a note on the door of the defendants’ bedsit, urging Miss Hancox not to worry about Ryan, who was said to have been taken out for the day.

Asked to describe the actions of Ryan’s killers, Mr Squire said: “It’s my belief that the abuse escalated, certainly in the week prior to December 22.

“The two people who know exactly what happened to Ryan are Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn – I think it was just an incredibly bad combination of people. The word cruel sums them both up.”

After Boleyn and Taylor were convicted, Mr Squire was asked if the authorities had considered taking action against Ryan’s mother for allowing Taylor and Boleyn to look after the child.

Confirming that a decision not to take any action against Miss Hancox was made at an early stage in the inquiry, Mr Squire replied: “She had told us that she had no idea or comprehension that this (the defendants’ bedsit) was an unsuitable place for her child.”