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A father accused of abusing and murdering his six-year-old son 'treated him like a punchbag', a court heard.

Thomas Hughes, 29, allegedly subjected Arthur Labinjo-Hughes to a brutal 'campaign of cruelty' that met the 'medical definition of child torture'.

He and his partner Emma Tustin, 32, are also alleged to have subjected the boy to 'systematic, cruel behaviour', including poisoning him with salt and forcing him to stand on a hallway step for 14 hours a day.

Arthur was allegedly ordered to sleep on the floor and 'deprived of basic living comforts' after moving into stepmother Tustin's home during the first pandemic lockdown.

The youngster was found with 125 areas of bruising on his body after dying from unsurvivable brain injuries in June 2020.

A day before he collapsed, Hughes sent a message to a man asking him to 'to dig Arthur's grave' and earlier sent Tustin a picture of a Taser with a message which read 'gonna thwack him'. 

A father accused of abusing and murdering his six-year-old son 'treated him like a punchbag', a court heard. Thomas Hughes, 29, allegedly subjected Arthur Labinjo-Hughes to a brutal 'campaign of cruelty' that met the 'medical definition of child torture'

Tustin and Hughes both deny murder. Tustin has admitted one count of child cruelty but denies three others. Hughes denies four counts of child cruelty.

At Coventry Crown Court, Hughes was today accused of treating his son 'like a punchbag'.

In cross-examination, Hughes was accused of being unable to control his temper and attacking Arthur, which he denied.

Tustin's barrister Mary Prior, QC, put to him: 'You treated him like a punchbag, didn't you?'

Hughes replied: 'No.'

Arthur had been in the full-time care of Hughes after his mother Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow was accused of killing her new partner, Gary Cunningham, in February 2019.

She was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 18 years in September 2019.  

Hughes and his partner Emma Tustin, 32, subjected the boy to 'systematic, cruel behaviour', including poisoning him with salt and forcing him to stand on a hallway step for 14 hours a day, it is said 

Hughes and Tustin met on an online dating website and he moved into her home near Solihull, in the West Midlands, with Arthur when the country entered lockdown.

The pair are said to have subjected Arthur to 'violence and intimidation' in 'brutal controlling circumstances'.

Football mad Arthur collapsed with 'unsurvivable brain injuries' on Tuesday, June 16, and died the following day

Hughes was quizzed over messages sent to mother-of-four Tustin threatening to 'end' and 'go to town' on Arthur.

But he denied the texts indicated violence and denied wanting to buy a Taser to use on Arthur.

He sent a picture of a stun device to Tustin with the caption: 'Gonna thwack him', jurors heard.

Asked why he sent the picture of the Taser, he said he read about a police officer who Tasered the former Aston Villa footballer Dalian Atkinson

Hughes told jurors: 'He had used a Taser on the ex-footballer for longer than what should have been deployed.'

Asked if he intended to purchase the device by his barrister, Bernard Richmond, QC, Hughes replied: 'No.'

Giving evidence, Hughes said he 'didn't think anything' of a message asking a man 'to dig Arthur's grave', sent a day before Arthur collapsed.

Mr Richmond asked him: 'Were you expecting Arthur to be dead in the next 24 hours or so?'

Hughes replied: 'No'.

Mr Richmond then asked: 'What do you think about that comment now he is in one?'

Hughes said: 'I think it's a horrible comment to make and I don't like it.

'I didn't think anything of the comment, that's partly why it was made. I didn't think anything of it. It's only looking back on it and the situation.'

Tustin and Hughes both deny murder. Tustin has admitted one count of child cruelty but denies three others. Hughes denies four counts of child cruelty 

Prosecutors claim Tustin shook and then slammed Arthur's head on a hard surface while alone with him at her council house in Cranmore Road, Shirley, on June 16 last year.

She claims the youngster died from self-inflicted injuries, a theory rejected by medical experts.

Hughes is alleged to have 'intentionally encouraged' the killing.

But giving evidence Hughes denied ever wanting his son dead and loved him 'more than anything'.

He said he was 'angry' watching footage from a living room camera of the aftermath of Arthur's collapse and told jurors: 'That's my boy and she used him like a rag-doll.'

He added: 'My boy was put in that position and looking back I failed to act on it.'

After his arrest, Hughes told officers not to treat Tustin as a suspect and that his actions contributed to Arthur's death.

Asked why he said that, Hughes said he had learned that she was pregnant and wanted to protect his unborn child.

He told jurors: 'I had just lost one child and I didn't want to lose another.

'The only way I could protect that child was to try and protect Emma from it all and to take the blame for myself. That's what I decided to do.

'Over the course of these 17 months a lot has been put to me that I was not previously aware of regarding Emma, and it has made me see Emma in a completely different light.

'At the time I thought I was doing right by my unborn child, I realise now I made it a lot harder for myself.'

An expert suggested Arthur was given at least 34 grams of salt - equivalent to six teaspoons - leading to hospital readings which were 'off the scale'.

Giving evidence, Hughes denied poisoning Arthur with salt or knowing it was being done.

He said that he believed Arthur was rejecting Tustin's food because it 'had become inedible - that's why he spat it out.'

The court heard how one witness claim Arthur was 'too weak' to even hold a glass of water to his mouth on the day before he collapsed.

They also said his 'clothes looked dirty, his lips cracked, he could barely open his mouth to speak, his hair was dirty, his nails were dirty and he looked malnourished, gaunt and worn-out.

The jury was previously told Arthur's family raised concerns with social services two months before Arthur's death. But after a home visit no further action was taken

In a 999 call made 12 minutes after Arthur was found unresponsive, Tustin claimed his head injuries were self-inflicted.

She claimed he had 'banged his head while on the floor on all fours'.

Earlier in the trial, a medical expert said he believed Arthur was shaken and slammed with 'very severe' force.

Consultant neuropathologist Daniel Du Plessis said the chances of Arthur causing himself fatal head injuries were 'inconceivable'.

The jury was previously told Arthur's family raised concerns with social services two months before Arthur's death. But after a home visit no further action was taken.

Opening the trial, Jonas Hankin, QC, told jurors: 'Both defendants participated in a campaign of cruelty intended to cause Arthur significant harm and suffering.

'Violence and intimidation, both physical and verbal, were routine.

'Arthur's visible injuries, his miserable physical condition and obvious despair provided each defendant with a daily reminder of the lengths to which the other would go to cause him harm.'

The trial continues.

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