Footballer Kiernan Hughes-Mason left toddler with brain damage after violent assault in Essex

A non-league footballer who beat a two-year-old child so badly doctors compared her injuries to those of a high-speed crash victim has been found guilty of child cruelty.

Kiernan Hughes-Mason, 32, left the girl with life-changing brain injuries and in need of round-the-clock care following the attack in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex in January 2020.

At Basildon Crown Court, where Hughes-Mason was convicted of grievous bodily harm and child cruelty after a three-week trial, prosecutors said the injuries were similar to those inflicted by "a fall from... several storeys".

During a 15-year career, Hughes-Mason started off at Millwall and later played for the social media team Hashtag United, most recently serving as manager of Tower Hamlets FC.

Hughes-Mason called paramedics on 31 January 2020 to tell them the child was injured.

He claimed at first that she had fallen over, and was conscious but unresponsive.

Paramedics took her to hospital and she was put into an induced coma, and then taken on to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Doctors found 17 different injuries to her legs, back, face and chest which are thought to have been inflicted between October 2019 and January 2020.

She remained in a coma for 14 days and suffered life-changing brain injuries which means she needs 24-hour care.

Hughes-Mason was arrested on 14 February 2020.

During the investigation, officers found on Hughes-Mason's phone messages sent to friends in which he described his anger, including telling one person "She’s actually getting on my nerves", and "I’m gonna hit her".

Who is Kiernan Hughes-Mason?

As a young footballer, he came through the ranks at Arsenal, with a spell at Tottenham Hotspur, before joining Millwall aged 16.

He had a nomadic career, spending loan spells at Cheltenham Town, Tooting and Mitcham United and Chelmsford City. He left Millwall for Tooting and Mitcham permanently, then signed for Kettering Town, Grimsby Town, Welling United and Maidstone United.

He made 112 appearances for non-league Leatherhead as he slipped down the ranks of the game and later had a spell at Tasman United in New Zealand.

From 2020 to 2022 he played for Hashtag United, a team founded by a football YouTuber, which became well-known for filming and uploading all its games online.

After leaving that club, he made only a handful of appearances for the likes of Saffron Walden Town and Tower Hamlets, before becoming player-manager.

He was appointed Enfield Borough FC manager at the end of last season - a position from which he has now been sacked, following his conviction.

In closing speeches, the prosecution barrister said: “The experts are all unanimously of the view that the child’s devastating head and brain injuries could not have been caused accidentally while she was alone in her room."

Prosecutors added: “In respect of the head and brain injury that the child suffered… the experts all agree that the pattern of injuries found is consistent with the child having been vigorously shaken… with her head likely being hit against a hard surface.

“The only explanation for the pattern of injuries suffered by the child was that they were inflicted by this defendant and inflicted deliberately.”

'Consequences for the rest of her life'

Following Hughes-Mason's conviction, the victim's family said: “We finally have a verdict and that man is now held accountable for what he did to our little girl.

“We have had to go through what no family should ever have to experience, and our girl is going to bear the consequences of what he has done to her for the rest of her life”.

Det Sgt Ellie Nudd of Essex Police's child abuse investigation team, said: “This conviction is important. Hughes-Mason denied responsibility for all of the child’s injuries, pointing the finger at others or blaming them on accidents.

"This little girl will never recover from the injuries she sustained from this violent attack.

“The doctor’s were clear about the extent of the injuries – they were equivalent to a high-speed crash, and would have to be the result of a violent assault."

Hughes-Mason will be sentenced on 10 September at Basildon Crown Court.

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