Arrest footage released of Kent mother and ex-partner who murdered toddler in caravan

  • Watch Joe Coshan's report for the full story

Arrest footage has been released of a mother and her ex-partner guilty of murdering her 18-month-old son.

Sian Hedges and her former boyfriend Jack Benham, 35, launched a "torturous and wicked" assault on Alfie Phillips overnight on 28 November 2020 at Benham's caravan in Hernhill, near Faversham, Kent.

Alfie died with more than 70 injuries from head to foot, including multiple broken bones in his arms and legs, fractured ribs, and evidence of smothering.

It was clear to medics and officers within minutes of arriving in an ambulance at the QEQM Hospital in Margate, that his death was no accident.

  • Video from Kent Police of Hedges and Benham's arrest.

The pair were arrested on the hospital grounds, initially on suspicion of child neglect, they both pleaded their innocence.

Alfie was also found with several human bite marks, some of which former soldier Benham tried to explain in his police interview.

The court heard Benham, who is not Alfie’s father, said he woke up with the toddler under his leg in bed and he thought he had suffocated him.

The court had heard from Benham how he and Hedges began their relationship around September 2020 through meeting regularly at the same friend’s house where they would buy drugs.

Jurors had heard about older injuries Alfie sustained in the months before his death and their explanations for them, such as a cut under Alfie’s eye from playing with keys and his fingers being caught in the dog gate in Benham’s parents’ home.

Sian Hedges and Jack Benham were both convicted of the murder of Alfie Phillips Credit: Kent Police/PA

Timeline of events on 27 November 2020

In the afternoon, Alfie spent time with Jack Benham's mother - and the toddler was his usual lively self, she told the police, with no sign of any injury.

Alfie was returned to Benham's caravan in the grounds of his parents' house at 7pm.

A few hours later, at 2am, Hedges told the trial she left the caravan for 40 minutes to buy drugs.

Benham shouted for help from the caravan at 11.30am, holding Alfie, who was described as "limp and blue".

Alfie Phillips the night before he died. Credit: Kent police

The pair initially both denied the charges but during the trial that strategy changed and each accused the other of murder.

Hedges told the jury that Benham must have killed the boy during that 40-minute window she left the caravan to buy drugs.

Benham told the trial jury that he "would never harm" Alfie, that he treated him as "one of my own", and that his mother must have killed him while he slept, knocked out by whisky and cocaine.

His father Sam Phillips told the court he was as good as gold in the days before he was beaten black and blue and killed.

Alfie died with more than 70 injuries from head to foot, including multiple broken bones in his arms and legs, Credit: Kent Police

Prosecutors were in no doubt and unanimously found both Sian Hedges and Jack Benham responsible for killing the 18-month-old toddler.

DCI Kent Police, Catherine Way said: "Alfie’s mother who should have been there to look after him and protect him, along with her partner Jack Benham, have caused such unimaginable pain and suffering to Alfie.

"They subjected him to so much violence. It was torturous and it was wicked. At no point during this trial had they taken responsibility for what they had done.

"That meant the family had to endure a lengthy trial, listening to the horrendous details of what Alfie has been put through and the web of lies that were told."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...