Stephen Boden and Shannon Marsden: Drug-addled parents found guilty of 10-month-old son Finley's brutal murder
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CHESTERFIELD, DERBYSHIRE: A 10-month-old baby's parents were found guilty of murdering their son on Christmas Day in lockdown, just days after social services placed him back into their care. Stephen Boden, 30, and Shannon Marsden, 22, murdered Finley Boden in 2020 after he suffered 71 bruises over his body and 57 fractures.
Social workers had raised concerns before Finley was even born due to the parents' substance abuse and the state of their home. He was removed from their care immediately after he was born in February 2020, only to be returned in November later that year. The infant was murdered just a few weeks later.
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Horrific injuries
Finley's pelvis was broken in two places, from sustained "kicking or stamping." He had burns on his hand, one "from a hot, flat surface," and the other "from cigarette lighter flame." The young child collapsed following a cardiac arrest. Paramedics were called at 2.33 am on Christmas Day and he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 3.45 am.
The parents reportedly did not want to call the emergency service providers for an hour as Stephen wanted to smoke cannabis and hide their drugs. The pictures of Finley and his deranged parents were released by the authorities on Friday, April 14, noting the extreme conditions in which he spent his final days, with feces in the bedroom.
The father was heard telling Shannon at the hospital that he was going to sell Finley's pushchair on eBay, following the child's death. He later told police he was trying to "lighten the mood." He also sent a text message two days before the child's death saying, "I want to bounce him (Finley) off the walls," according to Daily Mail.
Stephen blamed dog for infant's injuries
Prosecutor Mary Prior KC said the inside of Finley's mouth was "torn." "This is caused by forcing a dummy or a bottle in the mouth," she said. The baby had a "spiral" break to a thigh, while a shin bone break was "consistent with being held by the ankle and gripped and twisted." Stephen later tried to blame the family dog for the child's grievous injuries. He told a relative that the dog may have "jumped on" Finley, causing multiple broken ribs, while allegedly blaming marks on Finley's mouth on his son hitting himself "with a rattle." He confessed to another relative that they did not call an ambulance for an hour because he wanted to have a cannabis joint and hide the drug stash.
Shannon was 17 and Stephen was 24 when they first met and both enjoyed smoking cannabis together.
What are the charges?
Stephen Boden, of Romford Way in Barrow Hill, Chesterfield, and Shannon, of no fixed address, denied committing the murder. They are charged with two counts of child cruelty and two charges of causing or allowing the death of a child. Prosecutor Mary Prior KC described how Finley suffered a catalog of "appalling" injuries, including 71 bruises over his body and 57 fractures, many inflicted in the short period before his fatal collapse.
Parents prioritized cannabis over baby
During the trial, Prior said, "His parents, we say, worked together to hide the injuries from the social worker, from the health visitor, and the police for their own self-centered reasons. They didn't want social services to remove Finley if the appalling way they were treating Finley was discovered." Finley was seen alive as he was out with his parents in Chesterfield on Christmas Eve, before he was killed on Christmas Day, just 39 days after he was returned to their care.