Alfie Steele: Mum and partner jailed for boy's 'sadistic' killing

A mother and her partner who killed her nine-year-old son in the bath following months of abuse have been jailed.

Alfie Steele died after being held under the water as punishment at his home in Droitwich, Worcestershire, in February 2021.

He had been subjected to a cruel regime and his body had more than 50 injuries.

Dirk Howell was found guilty of Alfie's murder. His mother, Carla Scott, was convicted of manslaughter but cleared of murder.

At their sentencing at Coventry Crown Court, Howell was jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years, while Scott was given 27 with a minimum 17-year term.

Mr Justice Mark Wall said the suffering they inflicted on Alfie could "only properly be described as sadistic".

He told 41-year-old Howell: "I am sure that you got pleasure from inflicting pain and discomfort. The risks of killing him by your conduct were real and obvious."

Warning: this article contains distressing content.

In a victim statement read to the court, Alfie's grandfather Paul Scott said he was haunted by the fact "Alfie's last words were him shouting for me".

"I saw Alfie's lifeless body being carried [to hospital] in the helicopter. Since then it has felt like a nightmare," he said.

"It hurts that he will never be able to make his own decisions. He has been taken from me. I will never get to see that cheeky smile again."

Scott, of Vashon Drive, Droitwich, and Howell, of Princip Street, Birmingham, both denied murder.

Jurors took 10 hours and 13 minutes to convict them over the killing and Scott was also found guilty of four counts of child cruelty, a charge Howell had already admitted.

During the six-week trial, jurors heard how Alfie's final months were punctuated by being repeatedly beaten, forced to stand outside and dunked head first into cold baths.

Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said the defendants thought it was acceptable to hit him with "belts, or a slider, like a heavy-duty flip flop, and use other more sinister forms of punishment".

Jurors were told the pair, on 18 February 2021, tried to cover up the killing by delaying calling 999 after Alfie was either drowned, asphyxiated or went into cardiac arrest.

Scott, 35, claimed Alfie had fallen asleep while enjoying a warm bath, but his many injuries and low body temperature - 23C (73F) - indicated he had been dead for some time.

Prosecutors said he might have been put back in the bath to pass the murder off as accidental drowning.

During the trial, it emerged a neighbour had called 999 six months before Alfie's death, warning police the couple were "doing something bad to their kid in the bath".

The caller said it sounded like Alfie was "being hit and held under the water or something" and there was "loads of thrashing around".

It was one of a number of calls made to emergency services by residents concerned about the boy's welfare.

Others said they had seen Alfie being forced to "stand like a statue" outside his home and had filmed him crying "let me in".

The court heard Scott struck up a relationship with Howell in 2019 and his regime of punishments quickly escalated during 2020 when the country went into lockdown during the Covid pandemic.

At the time of Alfie's death, Scott was the subject of a social services plan designed to protect him, with one of the rules being career-criminal Howell was not allowed to stay overnight at her house.

But the pair "continuously" flouted this requirement, Howell would stay over, assault Alfie and throw cold water at him.

A safeguarding review will now explore what more could have been done.

Scott had Alfie during a previous relationship which ended in 2017, in which children's services also had involvement.

During his evidence, Howell estimated he had spent 22 years in prison for various offences including battery, theft, burglary and drugs charges.

He had claimed he had tried to revive Alfie by performing CPR, but CCTV showed him leaving the house before paramedics arrived and later attempting to board a train before he was arrested at Droitwich railway station.

Mr Justice Wall said 18 February had been another day on which the couple had decided Alfie was "to be tortured".

Addressing the couple, he told them: "You have both refused to tell the truth about the day of Alfie's death, preferring to lie, to pretend that it was no more than a tragic accident and to cover up for one another.

"What is clear is that Alfie did not have the quiet death you tried to portray: a death in which he had an epileptic fit and gently fell asleep in the bath.

"His death was violent and brutal."

Alfie was described by his family as a charming, funny and inquisitive young boy whose kindness and cheeky smile "was enough to melt your heart".

Mr Scott's wife Alaina said when she had met him at 18 months old, he had wrapped his arms around her in a "lovely hug".

Describing him as gentle and loving, she added: "He was also the life and soul of our family. He was a considerate, warm, polite little boy who would help people of all ages."

In a statement from the NSPCC, the charity said concerns had been raised about Alfie's safety before his death.

"The child safeguarding practice review must establish whether more could have been done to safeguard him, so that in future the most vulnerable members of our society can be better protected."

Speaking outside court, Det Ch Insp Leighton Harding said the force was "aware that the family were known to West Mercia Police and other agencies prior to Alfie's death".

"The jury heard evidence of 999 calls from neighbours and reports from other people regarding concerns over Scott and Howell's conduct and treatment of Alfie, which led to police and other agencies having contact and involvement with the family in the months before Alfie's death," he said.

"I recognise the concerns and questions this raises. We are committed to learning the lessons from Alfie's tragic death and will fully engage with the review."

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said he welcomed the independent review led by Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership, "rightly set up to establish whether all agencies involved could have done more to protect Alfie".

"I am committed to using my role as commissioner to ensure any potential lessons that can be learnt from this tragic incident, are learnt."

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]