Boy killed by parents should have been most protected child in area’

A 10-month-old baby who was killed by his parents just 39 days after a court returned him to their care should have been "one of the most protected children in the local authority area", a review has concluded.

- Jessica Murray

Finley Boden died on Christmas Day 2020 after a period of "inadequate safeguarding" by authorities, who had removed him from the care of his parents, Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden, immediately after birth due to concerns for his safety.

He died after suffering 130 separate injuries, including 71 bruises and 57 fractures that left almost every bone in his body broken. Marsden and Boden, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, were found guilty of murder and given life sentences last May.

A review of Finley's case, published by Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership yesterday, concluded that he died "as the result of abuse, when he should have been one of the most protected children in the local authority area".

It said that while most of the details that emerged in the trial were "unknown to professionals working with the family," safeguarding was "inadequate" and "professional interventions should have protected him".