Babysitting couple found guilty of murdering boy, 3

A couple who inflicted more than 70 injuries on a three-year-old boy they were babysitting were found guilty of his murder yesterday. Christopher Taylor, 25, and Kayley Boleyn, 19, neglected, abused and beat Ryan Lovell-Hancox at their bedsit in Bilston, West Midlands, in December 2008.

He died in hospital on Christmas Eve. Both defendants initially claimed Ryan hit his head after falling in the bath but changed their accounts in police interviews. Ryan suffered a brain haemorrhage brought on by up to 10 blows to his head when it hit a floor or wall. Doctors said his injuries were similar to those suffered by a car crash victim.

Ryan's mother, Amy Hancox, was paying them £40 a week to look after her son for a month while she redecorated their home. The couple humiliated Ryan while looking after him. He was shouted at so loudly that he wet himself. Police believe a friction burn to his nose was caused by his face being rubbed into his own urine on a carpet. The defendants were also found guilty of child cruelty and will be sentenced later this year at Wolverhampton Crown Court.