Inside house of horrors where parents murdered their baby 39 days after he was returned to their care

Parents Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden subjected their 10-month-old son Finley to “appalling” abuse before his death on Christmas Day 2020.

At the start of the trial at Derby Crown Court last November, which would eventually see both parents convicted of murder, prosecutor Mary Prior KC told the jury that the pair were “in it together”, repeatedly lying to hide their abuse from the police, social services and their own families.

The court heard how the pair conspired together and remained in love despite incidents of domestic abuse and frequent drug use, to inflict “repeated acts of violence” on their son.

Child protection concerns meant Finley was removed from his parents’ care shortly after being born in February 2020. But jurors heard Finley was returned to the couple’s care over eight weeks by a court order, despite social workers asking for a longer transition. He was killed during the winter 2020 Covid lockdown – 39 days after he was placed back into their care.

Marsden, 22, met Boden, 30, when she was 17 and he was 24. The pair enjoyed smoking cannabis together, which contributed to Finley being made the subject of a child protection plan by social services a month before he was born.

The couple’s relationship was turbulent, with Boden and Marsden being heard arguing by neighbours as early as 2019.

On December 12 2020, Marsden texted a relative saying Boden “did not want Finley in the house”, and that he could not “give two s***s if I was still here or not”. Marsden later searched for emergency housing in Chesterfield, while Boden told his cannabis dealer that his partner and son were “doing my nut in”.

On December 21, days before Finley’s fatal collapse, Marsden messaged another relative saying: “Get the police to mine, tell them I’m scared of Stephen around the baby.

“He’s just hit me again… tell them he’ll kill me. He just tried. Please, I will be dead. Not joking.”

While Marsden stayed, neither she nor Boden took him to a GP or hospital, stopping family members and social services from seeing him.

When paramedics arrived in the early hours of Christmas Day, they noticed Finley had dirty fingernails and clothes, and believed he had been dead for longer than Boden and Marsden were suggesting.

They said the house was “very untidy and unclean”, with a strong smell of cannabis, with other health workers saying the house was “extremely dirty and smelly and very cluttered”.

After Finley was pronounced dead, the pair told a series of lies, offering different accounts to different people, at different times, of the details of their son’s illness.

Boden had claimed the family dog may have “jumped on” his son, inflicting broken ribs, while a tear to the inside of Finley’s mouth likely caused by a dummy being rammed in was blamed on the child hitting himself with a rattle

Only hours after his son’s death, Boden was heard telling Marsden at hospital that he was going to sell Finley’s pushchair on eBay – later telling police he only said this in an effort to lighten the mood.

Pictures from inside the home showed the appalling conditions Finley was forced to live in.

On the bedside table of his bedroom, there were two cans of Monster energy drink and more than a dozen rollup butts scattered next to an open bottle of Calpol medicine, most likely for Finley.

There was also a baby’s bottle on a stool next to the bed, of which the contents have become mouldy. A child’s meal was seen on the floor along with other clutter including empty takeaway containers and children’s toys.

Blood, faeces and saliva were seen on Finley’s cot and on clothes alongside bottles of gone-off milk and signs of cannabis use.

The bathroom, like the rest of the home, was completely cluttered with clothing, plastic bags and children’s toys.

The kitchen was also in a similarly uninhabitable condition with baby food, bread, bottles of squash and dishes sprawled across the counters. The sink was also completely filled with dirty dishes and the floor was likewise messy with plastic bags, rubbish and takeaway food packages.

During the trial at Derby Crown Court, details of Boden’s anger were laid bare.

The court saw images of doors with holes punched in, and heard details of how Boden slapped Marsden and called her a “selfish little b***h” during a row two days prior to Finley’s death.

Other fights saw Marsden “slapped around the face a few times” and Boden place his hands around her throat, with Marsden telling police in January 2021 that while she did not think Boden would kill her during these rows, “she just thought he might lock her in the house”, Mrs Prior told the jury.

Despite this, and despite both being on bail with conditions not to contact each other, the pair continued a sexual relationship, frequently meeting up as they remained under investigation for killing their son.

After being remanded in custody in 2022, the pair sent each other Valentine’s Day cards in which Marsden said she would love Boden “forever” and would “always be standing by” her partner.

Mrs Prior told the trial that the pair “remained in a relationship… until they were charged” and repeatedly lied to cover up what they did.

“They saw nothing, they heard nothing, they noticed nothing,” she said the couple claimed. “It shows they were, and they remain, in it together.”

Marsden and Boden, convicted on Friday, will be sentenced at a later date.