Image source, Family handout Image caption,

Alfie Phillips died with more than 70 visible wounds including multiple bruises and fractures

By Christian Fuller

BBC News, South East

A mother and her former partner have been given life sentences for the murder of her 18-month-old son during "a lengthy night of violence".

Alfie Phillips died on 28 November 2020 with more than 70 visible wounds and traces of cocaine in his body.

Sian Hedges, 27, and Jack Benham, 35, had denied murdering the toddler.

At Maidstone Crown Court, Hedges was sentenced to a minimum term of 19 years, while Benham was handed a minimum term of 23 years.

The judge said Alfie had been the victim of a "frenzied attack". In his sentencing remarks, he added that Alfie would "light up any room".

Sam Phillips, Alfie's father, described him as "good as gold" and "lively", adding he had been "robbed of the opportunity to see him grown up".

"The funeral was one of the hardest days of my lives. The images of his tiny coffin will stay with me forever," he said.

Hedges, of Yelverton, Devon, and Benham, killed Alfie overnight during lockdown in Benham's caravan in Hernhill, near Faversham.