Emma Tustin is a murderer

[DueyCheatemAndHow]

Finally. We can say it.

I've just utterly broken down for Arthur.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry they probably loved her though. And feared her. I'm sure they are plenty damaged.

@the80sweregreat

29 years is pathetic. I hope that the evil bitch gets an awful time of it every single day. She probably won't though :(

It was a life sentence with a minimum of 29 years.

I think Wayne Couzens got whole-of-life because of the degree of pre-meditation, with buying all the weapons, e.t.c. I don't see how this wasn't the case here though - with all the text exchanges they sent to each other. It seems clear that they were planning this. It's scary to think these people could see the light of day and potentially be one of our neighbours.

Sorry I haven't read the full thread but just want to say that if any small thing comes out of this it would be that we hug our kids that bit tighter and tell them how we'll always protect them and love them

Absolutely breaks my heart. That poor little boy. Let down by services. The pictures of him with the duvet just made me breakdown.

@vickyp0llard no one said that there is something wrong with you if you choose to stay child free. No one said that.
What I DID say was that we should all treat children with more respect and talk about children with more respect.

That has nothing to do with whether you have a child of your own or not. Nothing. We all come into contact with children every week, in restaurants , public places etc

29 and 21 years for her and him respectively. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. And both will get maximum protection in prison so they don't get done in by other inmates. What a joke the judicial system is in the uk. This is why other countries laugh at us.

[quote Porcupineintherough]@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry they probably loved her though. And feared her. I'm sure they are plenty damaged.[/quote]
Oh for sure. She sounds like an absolute piece of work even before her murder of Arthur. And she associated with people who witnessed and allowed violent abuse of a child and did nothing. So she (and TH) were so comfortable with their own treatment of Arthur that they were happy to do it infront of others. So either the other people thought it was fine, or they were too afraid of her to intervene. Either way- she clearly was a scumbag and her children will have experienced that long before Arthur was on the scene.

I think a social worker needs to be tough, there should be more emphasis on this - be they men or women. I remember in the case of baby P one of the social workers had been afraid to enter the home and had therefore not seen the child.

That is a good point, more male social workers are needed as some of the families the sws have to deal with are the pond life of society, it would be safer for social workers to conduct such visits in male - female pairs where possible. Would this have helped in this particular case though...probably not.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

Let's not forget the surviving children's trauma. Imagine the headfuck seeing your otherwise loving mother torture a child in your home. How fucked up that would make you?

You can’t honestly believe she was otherwise loving to her two children?

The judge's sentencing remarks say that she was

I saw the video of Arthur this morning, I've been crying on and off all morning as I can't get the sound or image of him crying out of my head. How scared and alone he must've felt, my heart broke for him. I just can't get my head around how cruel to him they were

@Nextstationpaddington

I hope they get killed in prison.

And what do you think will happen to the person killing them if they do? Are you prepared to spend 20 years in prison for the pleasure of killing her? If so, go do it. If not, why should some other poor woman be expected to?

I think Wayne Couzens got whole-of-life because of the degree of pre-meditation, with buying all the weapons, e.t.c.

I thought it was because he was a police officer and therefore in a trusted profession to protect society and his actions would impact peoples trust in the forces.

Hangingwithmygnomies

Same here. I'd escaped/avoided this until this morning, now I can't get it out of my head.

@vickyp0llard you said
"However children do behave more unanimously in certain ways, they cannot control their impulses easily, they are often loud, demand a lot of attention. I'm fully aware it's because their brains are developing and they are vulnerable but you can't force people to enjoy those behaviours or want to surround themselves with them. I enjoy some children's company more than others but always prefer the company of adults, or no company at all. It's absolutely bizarre to conflate that with a sadistic murderer and imply it's some sort of sliding scale. I agree with a PP it's also insulting to people who choose to be child-free, saying there's something wrong with them. The blame for this lies with ET, not with people who find parenting hard or get annoyed at kids in supermarkets."

Children demand a lot of attention because they are weaker than you.

So are you saying that you don't like children because they are weak, and they need attention and help?

I don't think it's a good train of thought. You were a child once.

The judge's sentencing remarks say that she was

I simply cannot believe it is the case. Abusers always have a victim. Before Arthur, there will have been someone else, most likely another child, most likely one or both of her own.

Tbf @soubriquet the only time I called 999 was when my baby son went into anaphylactic shock and I was icily calm no emotion as I was concentrating on him and his breathing and watching him double in sze before my eyes. That's not to say that when help arrived I just turned to jelly but in that moment I didn't panic or cry or do any of the things you would expect to do.

I'm pleased with the sentences especially as ET won't even be considered for parole until 29 years have passed. However, nothing can erase the awful suffering little Arthur endured. There's nothing to celebrate here.

I'd really recommend reading the full sentencing remarks to answer questions on length of term etc, and why they got what they did and what the guidelines are. There's a lot of context. The judge specifically said he didn't think it was pre-meditated at length in the days before, but that she did have an intent to kill in the moments before. There's a difference.

I don't think it's a good train of thought. You were a child once.

So what? I didn't enjoy my childhood or particularly liked myself as a child either. I prefer being an adult and socialising with adults. That argument doesn't even make sense - like if I said "I don't like detached houses", and someone says "but you lived in a detached house!". I didn't choose to be a child or even to be born.

Please tell me Hughes’s mother isn’t trying to defend him. I can’t take anymore of these people.

You're absolutely right. Unfortunately the 'rich' only make up a small percentage of this country with 4.3 million children living in poverty in 2019/2020

....and getting worse!
The UK has a £2 Trillion economy, it can easily fund social care for its vulnerable.
Take away 40% pensions tax relief for high earners and that money alone would transform social care - its all down to choices that we the electorate make and so far we choose lower spending over childrens welfare.