Susanna Reid cries as Arthur Labinjo-Hughes' grandmother breaks down in tears on GMB while condemning police and social service for failing him as PM backs calls for new 'Arthur's law'
Susanna Reid cried on live TV today as the grandmother of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes sobbed while describing the abuse the little boy suffered before he was murdered by his monstrous step-mother after being egged on to 'end him' by his evil father.
Ms Reid, 50, a mother of three herself, wiped away tears as Madeleine Halcrow spoke about her own grief and the attempts to ask social services to save the six-year-old schoolboy killed in Solihull in June last year.
Susanna could also be heard crying loudly off camera as Madeleine spoke and tears rolled down the star's face as she passed a box of tissues to Arthur's heartbroken grandmother on Good Morning Britain this morning.
Ms Halcrow made her first television appearance to discuss the opportunities to save Arthur that were missed, and cried as she described seeing marks on his back and 'imagined the pain Arthur would have been in receiving those bruises'.
She called social services only to be told they had been to see him the day before and 'didn't find anything untoward'. The authorities have since been accused of missing at least four opportunities to save Arthur having ignored pleas from his family to rescue him. Lockdown exacerbated the problems, with schools closed and social worker visits done on Zoom leaving vulnerable children alone all day every day with those tormenting them.
Arthur would later be battered to death by his feckless stepmother Emma Tustin, who was jailed for life with a minimum of 29 years on Friday after she was convicted of murdering six-year-old at her home in Solihull, West Midlands.
His father, Thomas Hughes, was also jailed for 21 years after being convicted of manslaughter for encouraging the killing, including by sending a text message to Tustin hours before the fatal assault telling her 'just end him'.
As millions grieve Arthur's tragic death, it also emerged today:
- Child killers like the step-mother and father of tragic six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes will never been released from prison under proposals backed by the Prime Minister;
- Campaigners say schools must not be shut down because of Covid again to protect vulnerable youngsters with tens of thousands of 'ghost children' at risk of abuse after failing to return to school following the lockdowns;
- Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi confirmed there will be an investigation into the failings leading to the death of Arthur, including the missed chances to save him after social services were contacted;
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was killed by his step-mother Emma Tustin at her home in Solihull
Susanna Reid broke down (left) as Arthur Labinjo-Hughes' grandmother Madeleine Halcrow (right) broke down on Good Morning Britain as she recalled how she tried to save her grandson
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1.2k sharesOn Good Morning Britain today, his grandmother Madeleine Halcrow made her first television appearance to discuss the opportunities to save Arthur that were missed.
Co-host Martin Lewis asked: 'Arthur's paternal grandmother got in touch with you didn't she about the bruises?'
Madeline, who is a nurse, explained she was visited by Thomas' mother Joanna Hughes and her husband Chris.
'Joanna said they had found bruises on Arthur,' Madeline explained. 'She showed [me the pictures] and straight away I said, 'Those are non-accidental injures, they are caused by an adult hand.'
'I said, 'On his right shoulder I can see three fingers and his left shoulder that has been caused by being hit with something or being pushed against something.'
'But the most disturbing thing to me and I said this to Chris and Jo, 'There's new bruises on top of old,' Madeline said as she broke down in tears.
It comes as Ms Halcrow said warnings about the treatment of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes were ignored and something in the system responsible for ensuring his safety is broken.
Arthur's stepmother Emma Tustin, 32, was jailed for life at Coventry Crown Court on Friday, with a minimum term of 29 years, after being found guilty of the six-year-old's murder.
His father, Thomas Hughes, 29, was sentenced to 21 years for manslaughter.
The pair showed 'no remorse, no sympathy', Arthur's maternal grandmother said, as she branded them 'depraved, sadistic, torturous, evil, calculating people'.
Madeleine Halcrow, who described her grandson as having been 'the happiest child' before he went to live with his father and stepmother as the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, said she felt anger towards the organisations responsible for monitoring his safety.
In a tearful interview, she told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I am angry with the inter agencies because somewhere along the line communication hasn't been passed along. The old adage, 'if it isn't broke, don't fix it'. Well something is broken in this system and something needs fixing.'
Peter Halcrow, Arthur's maternal grandfather, said warnings were issued by the little boy's paternal grandparents, by whom he was 'well loved and well looked after'.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'They're decent people, and they were very concerned, and they issued warnings which were ignored, shall we say.'
He added: 'I can't understand why something wasn't done about it.
'I don't know who runs Solihull social services or who went round to the house, because they were called and they must have had a snapshot of the house, and they must have felt everything was fine.
'There's been phone calls made to West Midlands Police as well, which were not acted on. It's a tough one, when you hear the kind of abuse the boy was going through.'
He said someone should have stepped in when 'alarm bells' were ringing.
Asked what he would like reviews into the six-year-old's situation to consider, he told Today: 'It's not as if it was a kind of 'passing by' thing. I mean, people were flagging up there were problems and social services got involved and said there was nothing to worry about, and then 'hey ho', three or four months later, the boy is dead.
'How can you ask me what I would like them to consider? I mean, they must have a tick-list to do, 'house is clean, everything's tidy, blah, blah, blah, so we'll not worry about it'.
'If alarm bells are ringing all around, even neighbour statements, then surely, there must be someone or some kind of body that can step in and say: 'Right, we're taking that child out of that situation,' you know?
'If the father is not man enough to do that himself then someone has to say: 'This child is suffering and needs help,' and take them out of the situation. And I guess that's what social services are for.'
As for the couple responsible for his death, Mr Halcrow said they had committed a 'heinous crime' by killing a 'defenceless, innocent boy'.
Mr Halcrow said: 'I wouldn't give them the time of day and I wouldn't want them to see the light of day ever again.'
Arthur was left with an unsurvivable brain injury while in the sole care of 'evil' Tustin.
She was convicted of murder by assaulting defenceless Arthur in the hallway of her Cranmore Road home in Solihull on June 16 last year.
Arthur, whose body was covered in 130 bruises, died in hospital the next day.
Ms Halcrow said of the jail sentences: 'Life should mean life. They took Arthur's life, he's not going to get his life back, he's not going to have children of his own.'
Amanda Spielman, chief inspector of Ofsted, said they will be starting work on their investigation into services involved with child protection in Solihull, where Arthur Labinjo-Hughes died, next week.
She told Today: 'It's not an investigation of the case itself, which is a separate piece of work, but we'll be looking at how those services jointly are dealing with child protection at the moment and what improvements can be made.'
It was revealed Arthur had been made to consume at least 34g of salt in the hours before his death leading to a sodium level which was 'off the scale' by the time he reached hospital
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with father Thomas Hughes and Emma Tustin who has been convicted of murder while Hughes, 29, is guilty of manslaughter after a trial at Coventry Crown CourtChild killers like the step-mother and father of tragic six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes will never been released from prison under proposals backed by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
'Arthur's Law' would see anyone who carries out the murder of a child sent to prison indefinitely.
'Anyone who plans then carries out the murder of a child should never be released from prison, so we’re toughening the law to make whole-life orders the starting point for such abhorrent crimes,' Mr Johnson told The Sun.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of 'ghost children' are at risk of abuse after failing to return to school following the lockdowns, a senior MP warned.
His warning came as Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi confirmed there will be an investigation into the failings leading to the death of Arthur.
Boris Johnson wants child killers like the step-mother and father of tragic six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes to never be released from prison
Tens of thousands of 'ghost children' are at risk of abuse after failing to return to school following the lockdowns, senior MP Robert Halfon warned yesterday. Above: Murdered six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes
It emerged in court that Arthur was seen by social workers during the first national lockdown just two months before his death in Solihull, West Midlands, in June last year. But they concluded there were 'no safeguarding concerns' and closed the file.
Mr Halfon told MPs: 'There are 100,000 what I call the ghost children, who are lost in the system and who haven't returned to school for the most time, who are subject to potential safeguarding hazards, county lines gangs, online harm and, of course, awful domestic abuse.'
Mr Halfon asked Mr Zahawi to make a 'real effort to work with the local authorities, to work with the schools and the regional commissioners to make sure that those 100,000 children who are mostly not in school are returned to school and are being watched by those authorities when they need to be watched'.
Mr Zahawi replied: 'It is a concerning issue and it is a focus for my department.'
Boy who never stood a chance: From a killer mother to father and stepmother who mocked and abused him till his dying day - timeline of tragic case
Social workers were called to the home two months prior to Arthur's death after his grandmother raised concerns about bruises on his back, but no further action was taken
2019
February: Arthur's biological mother, Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, 29, kills her partner Gary Cunningham by stabbing him 12 times with a kitchen knife.
Arthur is moved into the care of his father, Thomas Hughes, 29. Later he meets Emma Tustin, 32, online.
Hughes and Arthur moved into an annexe at the back of his parent's garden.
His grandmother said Arthur was 'nervous' at first but became a 'happy, well-rounded child'.
August: Hughes met Tustin on dating website Plenty of Fish. They went on their first date in a pub.
Tustin failed to reveal that in 2013 she had tried to commit suicide.
She also failed to reveal how her first two children went to live with their fathers.
After three dates Hughes introduced Tustin to Arthur.
September: Hughes' brother Blake said his nephew's behaviour 'change quite a lot'.
He said his brother became more anxious at being told off while his brother 'became a lot stricter.'
Hughes also recalled an incident where he argued with Tustin because he bought Arthur a Subway sandwich, which she said was 'an unnecessary treat.'
October: Aileen Carabine, a special educational coordinator at Arthur's school, said Arthur 'deteriorated' that month.
She said he became more reserved, anxious and 'not quite as smiley'.
November: Thomas and his mother Joanne met with Arthur's school to discuss their growing concerns about his behaviour.
Teachers said Arthur was having nightmares and spoke of his father 'killing him.'
Tustin became pregnant with Hughes, but had a miscarriage.
December: Arthur became upset during a Christmas nativity when the baby was taken out of its crib.
Hughes proposed to Tustin in the annexe.
2020
January: Arthur's school begin to raise concerns about him, including his 'clinginess' and 'obsession' with soft toys'.
February: Tustin took Arthur with her to have her hair done. Arthur was made to sit at a table with his hands on his knees and not move.
March: Hughes and Arthur move into Tustin's home in Solihull.
April 16: Arthur's paternal grandmother, Joanne Hughes, made a call to Solihull council's emergency team to report bruises on his shoulders.
April 17: Social worker Jayne Kavanagh and support worker Angela Scarlett-Coppage visit Tustin's home but report 'no concerns'.
April 20: A desperate Joanne Hughes tells Arthur's school about the referral to social services she had made four days earlier. Michelle Hull, safeguarding lead at Dickens Heath Community Primary School, contacts social services but is told they have 'no concerns'.
April (specific date unclear): Thomas Hughes fobs off Arthur's school in online messages, insisting he is 'doing grand'.
April (specific date unclear): Arthur's uncle, Daniel Hughes, tries to alert police to Arthur's bruises.
May/June (specific date unclear): When John Dutton, Tustin's stepfather, says he made an anonymous call to social services.
June 8: Arthur's school re-opened but Hughes did not send him back. He claimed his son had a bad night's sleep and would send him back the next day.
Arthur would never return to school.
June 12-15: Arthur spent more than 35 hours in isolation in the hallway.
On Friday Arthur was made to stand in hall for 14 hours, 19 minutes, as Tustin ate McDonald's with her son in the living room.
On Saturday Arthur was made to stand in the hall for 11 hours and 49 minutes.
In the video, Hughes can be seen slapping him around the head while Tustin grabbed him by the scruff of the neck as she marches him from the kitchen to the hallway.
The couple spent time in their garden hot tub and eating ice creams.
On Sunday Arthur was in the hallway for 10 hours and 54 minutes and made to wear a fleece onesie.
June 15: Tustin is seen waking Arthur up at 7.06am by ripping his bedding from underneath him.
Horrific final video shows an emaciated Arthur struggling to pick up a duvet from the living room floor where he had been forced to sleep.
June 16: Arthur suffered an 'unsurvivable injury' caused by Tustin repeatedly banging his head on a hard surface.
June 17: Arthur's life support was switched off and he died in hospital.
July 2, 2021: Labinjo-Halcrow is jailed for 11 years for killing Mr Cunningham.
The little boy who never stood a chance: How authorities missed FOUR opportunities to save Arthur, ignored pleas from his family and even threatened them with ARREST under Covid rules
Relatives of tragic Arthur Labinjo-Hughes yesterday hit out at the failings of social workers and police who missed a raft of opportunities to save the six-year-old's life.
His maternal grandmother Madeleine Halcrow told MailOnline: 'Arthur was let down by social services and the West Midlands Police. There was an opportunity to save him and it wasn't taken.'
The nurse spoke out as Arthur's stepmother, Emma Tustin, 32, was found guilty of murder for beating him to death, while his father Thomas Hughes, 29, was convicted of manslaughter.
They were both found guilty of numerous counts of child cruelty for subjecting him to systematic abuse which matched the 'medical definition of child torture', including being deprived of food, made to stand for 14 hours a day and poisoned with salt.
The boy's family squarely blame Solihull Council's children's services, which failed to grasp a series of chances to stop Arthur's 'unimaginable' torture before he was murdered with 130 separate injuries.
Arthur's grandmother, Joanne Hughes, told the trial how she felt there was 'no one else to go to' after repeatedly raising her concerns with the authorities, while his uncle, Daniel, was even threatened with arrest over lockdown rules if he went back to the youngster's house to check up on him.
The child moved into his father's care after his mother, Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, 28, killed her new partner in February 2019. Hughes met mother-of-four Tustin online before the couple moved with Arthur into her home near Solihull in the West Midlands when the government declared a lockdown in March 2020.
Madeleine Halcrow said that Tustin was 'obsessed' about the idea Thomas would go back to Olivia, and that 'the only way she could get Olivia out of her life was by getting rid of Arthur'.
Tustin, who had two of her children taken into care following a suicide attempt, repeatedly complained she could not cope with Arthur's behaviour during lockdown and begged Hughes to let him return to his grandparents.
Arthur died on June 16, 2020 after suffering an 'unsurvivable head injury'. These are the four key chances the authorities missed to avert the tragedy:
- ONE - Arthur's grandmother, Joanne Hughes, called social services on April 16 to say she had seen the youngster covered in bruises. However, social workers failed to spot them during a visit to his home.
- TWO - On April 20, Joanne also told Arthur's school what she had seen. A member of staff called social services but was told the bruises had been caused by 'play'.
- THREE - Arthur's uncle, Daniel Hughes, reports his concerns to police but is threatened with arrest if he tries to go back to the youngster's home.
- FOUR - John Dutton, Emma Tustin's stepfather, makes an anonymous call to social services weeks before Arthur's death.
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was beaten to death following months of abuse. His trial hear how relatives repeatedly raised concerns with social services and police but were rebuffed 'Remember him like this' Arthur Labinjo-Hughes' uncle shares video
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