Bilston Baby Ryan killers jailed for life

The couple who murdered three-year-old Ryan Lovell-Hancox by systematically beating him in a Black Country bedsit were today jailed for life.

A judge told Christopher Taylor, aged 25, and his 19-year-old girlfriend Kayley Boleyn, they condemned Ryan to a life of hell and thought more of their two dogs.

The child had around 70 separate injuries on his body when he died.

Inside tragic Ryan's last home- click here.

Taylor was told he must serve at least 15 years before being considered for parole while Boleyn must spend at least 13 years behind bars.

But Ryan's family this afternoon said "life should mean life".

Mrs Justice Julia Macur told the pair as they stood stone faced in the dock at Wolverhampton Crown Court: "Ryan's life had been hell in the final weeks of it and he died in squalor.

"You two showed more concern about the two dogs that you introduced to the household than you displayed to Ryan.

"His death was not the result of one flash of temper. He suffered days of physical ill treatment.

"You were bullies in every sense of the word. You could not cope with your own lives without alcohol and cannabis and took out your anger and petty grievances on this little boy."

The judge told Boleyn who appeared to be biting her lip and battling to keep back tears: "You and your co-defendant were totally incapable of looking after yourselves let alone looking after a child who was missing his mother, and missing his family and missing comfort."

Boleyn and Taylor systematically abused and assaulted the tragic three-year-old for weeks at their flat in Slim Avenue, Bilston, after his mother Amy Hancox had left him with her distant cousin and friend Boleyn to care for because she could not cope.

She allegedly paid up to £20 a week towards his upkeep for the near month he was in the care of the cruel couple before being taken unconscious to hospital with a head injury on December 22, 2008. He died 38 hour later on Christmas Eve.

Taylor and Boleyn denied murder but were both unanimously convicted of the crime by the jury after a month-long trial on March 26 and have been remanded in custody until today for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.

Detective Constable Keith Langdon, read a statement out on behalf of Ryan's family, which said: "Ryan died because of what Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn did to him. They deprived Ryan of his life so they should be deprived of their freedom.

"We don't believe they should ever be released, life should mean life.

"We think about Ryan everyday. We realise nothing will bring him back. We hope they will think about what they have done for the rest of their lives in the same way we think about losing Ryan." The couple were jailed for life as it was revealed a top level investigation into the murder of Ryan is almost finished — although officials want to keep its full findings secret.

The conclusions of the Serious Case Review conducted by two independent experts will be made public but the rest of the report is scheduled to be kept under wraps.

It is expected to focus on a team of support workers employed by Wolverhampton City Council and highlight a lack of communication between them and probation officers.

Neither knew all the details of the case but sharing of that information could have allowed officials to see the full picture before it was too late.

Mrs Jan Toplis, spokeswoman for Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board, which commissioned the review, said: "It is near completion. It is establishing the circumstances of the tragic death of Ryan and whether there are lessons to be learned."

Neighbouring Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board this week published the full Serious Case Review into the death of seven-year-old Khyra Ishaq who starved to death seven months before Ryan was murdered.

But colleagues in Wolverhampton intend to only reveal the conclusions of their report in line with previous Government advice for similar cases.

This has now been altered for all future Serious Case Reviews.

Mrs Toplis explained: "A date for publication of the executive summary of the serious case review of Ryan's death has not yet been fixed, but it is expected to be some time in the autumn."