UK - Arthur Labinjo Hughes, 6, killed, dad & friend arrested, June 2020

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13:12TONY LARNER
'Arthur was face down on the floor'
Ms Prior asks about the photo she sent to Hughes at 2.15pm which showed Arthur sitting in the hallway.

Tustin: "When we came back downstairs he had been standing then lying on the floor. Then basically he just sat up against the door. He was sitting on the floor because he had got no strength inside of him."

Ms Prior asks what she could see.

Tustin: "Arthur was face down on the floor on the carpet as if he was lying on his stomach."

She adds his legs and body were straight but cannot recall how his arms were.

13:14TONY LARNER
'I noticed a big lump on his head'
Ms Prior asks what she did next.

Tustin: "I picked him up. I struggled to pick him up. Put arms underneath his armpit. I put him on the stairs and I noticed a big lump on his head. Really big it was swollen."

Tustin is crying at this point.

She adds: "I picked him up put him on the step. I thought he had knocked himself out. I checked he had a pulse. He did. He was breathing.

"His eyes started rolling. I didn't know what to do I was running in and out. I didn't know where to put him. I thought he knocked himself out and he would come around."


Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
13:16TONY LARNER
Living room CCTV played to jury
The living room CCTV is played which shows Tusitn in the living room rubbing her own head. She is asked what happened.

Tustin tells the court Arthur was on 'all fours' and when she tried to pick him up he 'flung' himself back.

She adds: "He threw his head forward because I have got scarring on the front of my head. That's where he's got me. It was quite sore. I put him on the step and came back in the living room."

Ms Prior tries to clarify Tustin's account and states she went out to the hallway two times.

Judge Wall then interjects saying he is confused about the order of events. He asks Tustin what caused her to go out into the hallway in the first place.

Tustin: "Arthur was on all fours in the hallway rubbing his head. I thought he was headbutting the floor at this point. I have gone out and picked him up to stop him hurting himself."

13:20TONY LARNER
'He was rolling around on the floor'
Living footage from 2.24pm is played, which shows Tustin walk into the kitchen where she remains for a few moments. Ms Prior states she is on the phone to Hughes at this time.

Tustin is then seen going back into the hallway.

She says: "Arthur at this point was screaming and he was just screaming loudly and when I went back into the hallway again he was on all fours. I had to pick him up again."

Ms Prior states Tustin was on the phone to Hughes between 2.24pm and 2.26pm. The CCTV shows Tustin sitting on the sofa.

Tustin confirms at 2.27pm Arthur was still able to speak. She is asked what made her go into the hallway again at this point.

Tustin: "He was rolling around on the floor. I didn't want him to hurt himself."

13:29TONY LARNER
'I just thought he was being naughty'
Tustin confirms at 2.28pm she was speaking to Arthur from the sofa and he was responding to her. Ms Prior states at 2.29pm she sent a message to the balloon lady.

She asks what Arthur was doing.

Tustin: "He was just messing about, what I classed as messing about at this point. Throwing himself around. I just thought he was being naughty. I was constantly in and out.

"I told him he was going to end up hurting himself. He told me he didn't care. "

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
13:33TONY LARNER
'I've shut the door on him'
Asked what happened next she adds: "I tried to pick him up. He threw his arms back at me.

"I don't think it was intentional now. At that point I did. I was just trying to help him up. He whacked me in the stomach."

Ms Prior says at 2.30pm the balloon lady sent a message to her.

She tells the court at 2.32pm Tustin sent a text to Hughes saying: "Just copped me in the stomach. Thrown himself all over the floor. Won't get up for s***. I've shut the door on him."

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
Such a liar. I bet he was unconscious all those times she was going back and forth from the living room to the hall. She probably head butted him. He certainly didn't have the energy to be doing all those things she's saying, IMO.

"The door came back on him and hit his face.

Then basically he just sat up against the door. He was sitting on the floor because he had got no strength inside of him."

I noticed a big lump on his head. Really big it was swollen...Tustin is crying at this point.

She adds: "I picked him up put him on the step. I thought he had knocked himself out. I checked he had a pulse. He did. He was breathing. His eyes started rolling.

The living room CCTV is played which shows Tustin in the living room rubbing her own head. She is asked what happened.

Tustin tells the court Arthur was on 'all fours' and when she tried to pick him up he 'flung' himself back.

She adds: "He threw his head forward because I have got scarring on the front of my head. That's where he's got me. It was quite sore. I put him on the step and came back in the living room."
 
Last edited:
Tortoise said:
Tustin explains what happened when she was alone upstairs with Arthur.

She says: "I was upstairs doing my eyebrows. My bedroom door doesn't shut properly. I think Arthur thought it was shut. At that point he threw himself up against the door.

"The door bounced into the bedroom. The dressing room table was there. The door came back on him and hit his face. The first thing I did was check his face and send a picture to Tom."

Ms Prior asks if Arthur had initially went upstairs voluntarily.

Tustin: "I asked him to come upstairs with me. He held onto the bannister. It was like he was walking up a mountain, like he was hiking. It took him a while. He did get up to the top."
Click to expand...

I know we are probably not getting full transcriptions but, using this quote above as a good example, ET is often setting two or more scenes at a time.

Here, she is saying she asked him to come upstairs ‘with me’
And describes his troubles in making the journey up the stairs, but then goes on to state that she was sat behind her bedroom door which was shut to, when Arthur ‘throws himself’ at the door etc.

To me it is indicative that she took him upstairs to cause him injury. Further, she sent a record of it to TH. The pair of them are absolute horrors.
MOO
 
14:24TONY LARNER
Trial resumes after lunch
The trial resumes. Tustin returns to the witness box.

Ms Prior tells her she is going to play the living room CCTV from 2.24pm until Arthur's collapse.

For the first few minutes it shows Tustin going back and forth between the hallway, kitchen and living room sofa. On occasion she speaks towards the hallway.

Tustin appears to be using her phone.


14:31KEY EVENT
'Did you bang Arthur's head against anything?'
The footage continues.

Tustin appears on the camera carrying Arthur. She puts him on the floor. Tustin goes into the kitchen, then the hallway.

She returns to Arthur on the living room floor. She partially picks him up and drags him to the hallway. Tustin soon re-emerges carrying Arthur. She puts him on the sofa.

Ms Prior: "You have seen that sequence in full now. My first question is, during that period of time did you hit Arthur?"

Tustin: "No I did not."

Ms Prior: "Did you bang Arthur's head against anything?"

Tustin: "No I did not."

Ms Prior: "Did you shake Arthur?"

Tustin: "No."

14:54TONY LARNER
'Arthur lying there like he was asleep'
Ms Prior asks where in the sequence she heard a 'bang'.

Tustin: "I wasn't in the hallway. I was in the living room. I didn't see it. I just heard a bang. A loud bang and it was a crack at the same time. I don't exactly know when it was. I was in and out constantly.

"I'm trying to pinpoint when it was. I'm not sure where I was. I wasn't in the hallway."

Tustin states she heard the bang after she took a photograph of Arthur lying down on the floor in the hallway.

She says: "Arthur was lying there like he was asleep. At that point there hadn't been a bang. I hadn't picked him up."


14:58TONY LARNER
Arthur hit head 'three to four times'
Ms Prior asks how many times before the 'final action' did Arthur hit his head off the floor.

Tustin says 'three to four times'. She adds: "The first two times he was on all fours. The last two times he was struggling. I tried to move him from that position so he didn't hurt himself."

Ms Prior asks how many times there was physical contact between her and Arthur.

Tustin says there were two occasions, when he headbutted her and flung his arms back, in addition to the numerous times she picked him up.


15:01TONY LARNER
'I thought he knocked himself out'
Tustin continues and says Arthur sat back against the door but was 'in pain and was struggling to sit'.

Ms Prior asks what happened to Arthur.

Tustin: "I thought he knocked himself out. I had previously gone to pick him up. After the bang and crack I heard I genuinely thought he just knocked himself unconscious.

"That's why I called his dad and not the paramedics because I thought he knocked himself out and would come around."

15:03TONY LARNER
'Tom told me not to call the ambulance'
She adds she gave him a drink thinking it may make Arthur come around.

Tustin breaks down in tears as she tells the court she does not even remember her own children being in the living room after Hughes returned home.

Ms Prior asks if she spoke to Hughes.

Tustin: "Tom told me not to call the ambulance. I remember shouting at him. I don't know what I said. I picked up the phone and called the ambulance anyway."

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
I'm not sure what this means -

15:18TONY LARNER
'Can you explain to jury what went wrong'
Tustin is shown a number of pictures sent to her by Hughes on April 17.

Some of them show her and Hughes together, some of them show Arthur and her children together, others show all of them together.

Ms Prior asks: "Can you explain to the jury what went wrong."

At first Tustin brings up the application by Arthur's biological mother to see him.

Ms Prior reminds Tustin that she has always explained what has happened and she repeats the question.


Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
15:21TONY LARNER
'My children didn't want to play with him'
Tustin: "When lockdown was announced Arthur wasn't at school. He didn't see his friends. He didn't see his family, his uncle Blake, nanny or grandy. He wasn't allowed to see them.

"It got to the point my children didn't want to play with him. He was on his own.

"He was just left alone. I think the main point was he missed school, seeing his friends and he had no home comforts like we all had. Like my children had.

"I think it got a bit much. Not going to school, seeing his friends and having a good day. None of that. I think lockdown massively impacted. The stress got too much.

"It was a lot for me so Arthur must have been frustrated. It went from there.

"His behaviour spiralled, we just allowed it to. I was told we were offered no help. It seemed like there was no end in sight for us."

15:23KEY EVENT
'I pleaded guilty because I was guilty to cruelty'
Ms Prior asks why she waited until the start of the trial to plead guilty to a single charge of cruelty.

Tustin: "I was a little bit of a coward. I knew that things were awful, I knew things I had said about Arthur through text messages. I put off reading them. I was told by my legal team I had to read them. I refused.

"On the day I pleaded guilty that was the day I read the text messages. They were much worser than I thought they was. I pleaded guilty because I was guilty to cruelty."


Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
Strange that she thinks that because her texts to Hughes were much worse than she thought they were made her guilty of one of the counts of child cruelty.

Which count did she plead guilty to? Making him stand all day looking at the wall. She didn't need a text message to remind her of that. She's full of BS.
 
15:32TONY LARNER
'I was never violent to Arthur'
Ms Prior asks a series of questions starting with: "Have you ever been violent to Arthur?"

Tustin: "I was never violent to Arthur. I clipped him around the ear and pulled the pillow. And the occasion I pulled him back towards me because there was food on the floor.

"Other than those three occasions, I'm not saying that's okay, I never hurt Arthur."

Ms Prior: "It has been said you grabbed Arthur by the face and smacked him up against a wall on April 14."

Tustin: "No I did not."

15:35TONY LARNER
'Did you want to kill Arthur?'
Ms Prior: "It's said you killed Arthur by grabbing him and banging his head and shaking his head. Did you?

Tustin: "No I did not."

Ms Prior: "Did you want to cause harm to Arthur?"

Tustin: "No I did not."

Ms Prior: "Did you want to cause serious harm to Arthur?"

Tustin: "No I did not."

Ms Prior: "Did you want to kill Arthur?"

Tustin: "No I did not."

15:38TONY LARNER
'Tom was in charge of Arthur'
Ms Prior: "Did you want Arthur out of the way?"

Tustin: "No, I wanted him to go back to his nan's so he could have the life he had before."

Ms Prior asks who was 'in charge in the house'?

Tustin: "Tom was in charge of Arthur, I was in charge of my children."


Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
15:40TONY LARNER
'I was vulnerable. Mentally I was struggling.'
Ms Prior asks if anyone was in charge in their relationship.

Tustin: "No, Tom was a little bit more aggressive, I was a little bit more isolated because he didn't like my friends. I wasn't in charge of him and he wasn't in charge of me."

Ms Prior asks if Hughes was vulnerable. Tustin replies 'no'.

Ms Prior asks if she was vulnerable.

Tustin: "I was vulnerable. Mentally I was struggling. I was in a vulnerable position. I felt so lonely I didn't have anybody around me."

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
OOh!

15:44TONY LARNER
'I am sorry for what I have done'
Ms Prior asks how she now feels about the acts she has admitted to.

Tustin, again in tears, says: "I feel disgusted, I feel ashamed of myself. As bad as things were and they were bad, he didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve to be isolated, treated the way he was. I can obviously say how sorry I am, I can't speak for Tom.

"I am sorry for what I have done. It's not acceptable. I have got to live with that. It is something I will have to deal with."

Ms Prior concludes her initial questions. After a short break Bernard Richmond, for Hughes, confirms he will commence cross-examination immediately.

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
Under cross-examination by Bernard Richmond QC, for Hughes, Tustin was asked if she had shown Arthur “one shred of remorse” in June 2020.

Tustin replied: “No – I may not have showed it, but I felt it.”

He then asked: “Your evidence is there were only three occasions when you used physical violence against Arthur.

“They just happen to have been captured on camera each time so apart from those… there were no other episodes of violence?”

She responded: “No there was not.”

Murder accused stepmother tells jury of ‘bang’ and ‘crack’ before boy collapsed
 
15:55TONY LARNER
'I'm not crying because of myself'
Mr Richmond asks Tustin who she has been crying for during her evidence.

Tustin: "Because of sadness, the circumstances of the case, a child has died and living through what I lived through, that situation with Arthur, I have to keep being reminded of it and reminded Arthur was quite clearly dead at that point. It's quite upsetting.

"I'm not crying because of myself. I'm crying because of the situation."

15:56TONY LARNER
'Who are you crying for?'
Ms Richmond repeats: "Who are you crying for?"

Tustin: "Arthur because his life has ended at six-years-old."

Mr Richmond asks if this is a 'recent development'.

Tustin: "No since it happened emotion has been quite high, up and down. I'm not in the situation now.

"Sitting back, seeing that situation more clearly. I know where I have gone wrong now, things haven't been as I thought they should have."

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
The jury was told that a 999 call was made more than 12 minutes after Arthur was found unresponsive.

In the phone call, Tustin claimed Arthur's head injuries were self-inflicted, saying he had 'banged his head while on the floor on all fours'.

Questioned over the delay, Tustin said she called for an ambulance despite Hughes telling her not to.

She said: 'So I know now how long it was, but at the time I didn't know how long it had been.

'I knew it wasn't right that Arthur hadn't come around yet and he was getting worse.

'His breathing was more like deep breaths, it wasn't normal breathing. It was at that point I picked up my phone and called the ambulance.

[...]

Speaking about the day that Arthur sustained fatal injuries, Tustin alleged the boy headbutted her just minutes earlier despite also telling the court that he had 'literally got no strength in him'.

Woman isolated stepson, six, up to 14 hours a day but claims he died 'after falling down the stairs' | Daily Mail Online
 
16:03TONY LARNER
Tustin asked if she showed 'shred of sympathy' for Arthur
Mr Richmond asks Tustin if she showed any 'shred of sympathy' for Arthur in June.

Tustin: "In June my mental and physical health wasn't great. I was just getting through day by day. It wasn't that I wasn't showing anything for Arthur. Just getting through day by day."

She adds: "I did have some sympathy. I didn't understand all that much. There was sympathy there. Not as much as now."

Mr Richmond puts it to Tustin that it is 'coincidental' the only three occasions she has admitted to hitting Arthur were caught on camera.

Tustin denies there were any further incidents.

Mr Richmond asks how many hours she has spent 'studying the papers in this case'.

Tustin: "Enough. Not as many as I may have. Maybe about six or seven."

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
16:11TONY LARNER
Tustin agrees she saw Arthur as 'obstacle' to relationship
Mr Richmond asks Tustin about the recordings she made of Arthur 'when she was angry' with him.

Tustin denies being 'annoyed' at Arthur. Pressed on her answer she says: "That's how life became."

Mr Richmond puts it to Tustin she is exercising 'damage limitation' adding: "You take the situation you are in and make it as un-terrible as possible."

Tustin: "I know it's a terrible situation, I've known from the strt. It can't get any less terrible."

Mr Richmond asks if Tustin saw Arthur as an 'obstacle' to having a 'happy relationship' with Hughes.

Tustin: "I did yes."

She also accepts she told Hughes on numerous occasions he put Arthur before her and their unborn child.

Girlfriend accused of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder takes the stand
 
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