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

[Tortoise]

12:12KEY EVENT
Tustin says she was doing her eyebrows during 22-minute period when it's alleged she poisoned Arthur

Mr Hankin focuses on the specific events of June 16 last year. Tustin accepts Hughes left the home with her children at 1.12pm. She agrees at 1.15pm she gave Arthur a sandwich.

Mr Hankin asks if it was adulterated with salt. Tustin: "No it was left on the kitchen side for anybody to check if they wanted. He had a bite and it was stuck in his mouth."

Mr Hankin states at 1.27pm Tustin got off the sofa and went into the hallway. Tustin denies she was 'frustrated' with Arthur.

She says: "No it became normal. Same thing every day. It was normal."

Tustin is seen going into the hallway again but she cannot recall exactly what for.

She says: "I might have picked him up. May not have stayed in the hallway, might have gone upstairs."

Mr Hankin states at 1.40pm Tustin went upstairs where she remained for 22 minutes. He adds: "The prosecution say that it is during this period you poisoned Arthur."

Tustin: "No, I was doing my eyebrows. Arthur was not poisoned by me."


Murder accused branded 'pitiless, cruel woman' who 'hated' boy - updates

 

[Tortoise]

12:23JAMES CARTLEDGE
'I was left with Arthur again. Tom should have taken him. I kept saying I didn't want him'

At 2.02pm Tustin received the parcel delivery. At 2.09pm she text Hughes saying Arthur had been 'grabbing the walls' and had bruised his face. She ended the message saying 'you ent telling him no more'.

Tustin accepts she then had a five-minute call to Hughes. Mr Hankin puts it to Tustin the expressions on her face show she was angry and agitated with Arthur. Tustin denies that was the case.

The photo of Arthur sitting on the floor, taken by Tustin, is shown to the court. At 2.15pm Tustin got up off the sofa again. Mr Hankin puts it to her again that she was 'irritated'.

Tustin: "I was not irritated. I had to get up to pick him up again. It was normal. It wasn't even irritating anymore, just normal. That's what life was. Constantly up, constantly down. That's how life was with Arthur.

"I was left with Arthur again. Tom should have taken him. I kept saying I didn't want him. Take him. You don't realise how hard things were. I am not asking for sympathy. The situation was horrendous. I have had to relive it every day since I have been in custody. It doesn't get any easier."

Mr Hankin: "Arthur is dead. Who was the situation horrendous for?"

Tustin: "Everybody involved."

Woman 'doing her eyebrows' at time she's accused of poisoning boy - updates

 

[Tinksx]

Bath salts put to water while taking a bath soothe joints pain.
Well, it is advertised that way.

I think she’s claiming that she rubbed salt on her genitals to ease stinging brought on by a water infection.

If she was using salt in the bath to relieve muscle aches then she might have half a chance of convincing a member of the jury, but this defence she has given is completely off the wall.

 

[Dotta]

I think she’s claiming that she rubbed salt on her genitals to ease stinging brought on by a water infection.

If she was using salt in the bath to relieve muscle aches then she might have half a chance of convincing a member of the jury, but this defence she has given is completely off the wall.

OMG!
I'm speechless!

 

[Tortoise]

12:36JAMES CARTLEDGE
Tustin says she was headbutted by Arthur

At 2.16pm Arthur walked into the kitchen before Tustin lifted him up as she returned him to the hallway. She again denies she was angry.

Shortly after sitting down Tustin went into the hallway again where she remained for 17 seconds. She says she was 'picking him back off the floor and putting him back on the step'.

At 2.23pm she made an audio clip of Arthur crying. Tustin again denies she was angry.

Mr Hankin asks why she is holding her head in the footage. Tustin says she had been headbutted. She accepts she then spoke to Hughes on the phone and would have told him what Arthur had just done.

Mr Hankin states Hughes typically became angry when hearing about Arthur's behaviour and would say things like 'just end him'. He asks if Hughes said anything like that on this occasion.

Tustin: "No, he would always say things like 'just end him'. It was just ignored. Never acted on."

The phone conversation ended at 2.27pm. Tustin denies Hughes encouraged her to be violent in the conversation.

She says: "He wasn't happy when I reported what happened. He wasn't happy."

Tustin cannot recall exactly what Hughes said.

Woman 'doing her eyebrows' at time she's accused of poisoning boy - updates

 

[Tinksx]

It is distressing beyond any other case I have come across, and the temptation is to not read her pathetic responses but this is probably the only time in her life she will be forced to answer questions about his ordeal, and so the longer she is made to sit there and have her feet held to the fire the better. I feel this is Arthur's justice because no one, in authority, who could do anything for him did listen to him during his little life.

You’re right, this is the only chance Arthur has of speaking his truth and finally being heard. We need to listen. The longer she’s on the stand, the more she squirms and contradicts, the more she is exposed for what she is, the longer the sentence and some sort of justice for Arthur. It is just so harrowing, I’ve never heard of a case in the UK as distressing as this, I really haven’t. So many different modules of abuse coming at this child from every angle, I think these two have covered every single aspect of abuse, minus sexual. I just find her callousness and such disdain for this child, even in death, so triggering. There is no remorse there at all.

 

[Tortoise]

I have a feeling he won't take the stand.

 

[Tortoise]

12:56JAMES CARTLEDGE
Tustin denies assaulting Arthur

The footage shows Tustin going into the hallway again.

She says: "I was picking him up, moving him away from the door. Put him back on the thinking step. He threw himself off again."

At 2.29pm Tustin messaged the balloon lady. Mr Hankin says Arthur 'disturbed' her which made her angry.

Tustin: "Arthur disturbed everything."

Mr Hankin: "You told the jury you found Arthur lying on the floor concussed, so your first impression was his injury didn't warrant medical attention?"

Tustin: "I was concerned he had a bruise on his head. It wasn't a normal bruise."

She adds: "The lump was quite big. As I picked him up that lump was there. I have never had to deal with a child knocking himself out. That's genuinely what I thought it was."

Mr Hankin: "You get up from the sofa and walk into the hallway. This is when you assault Arthur isn't it."

Tustin: "No, that didn't happen."

Woman 'doing her eyebrows' at time she's accused of poisoning boy - updates

 

[Tortoise]

13:12KEY EVENT
'You do know don't you? This is when you did the act that killed Arthur?'

The court is shown the living room footage from 2.28pm. Tustin is sitting on the sofa looking at her phone.

Mr Hankin asks what she is doing when she gets up, goes into the hallway, and does not re-appear for one minute

Tustin: "I might not have been in the hallway. Might have been upstairs. It was a minute. I didn't think I would have to sit here and justify where I was for one minute."

Mr Hankin asks why she has not previously suggested she could have been upstairs at that moment.

Tustin: "I am not saying 100 per cent I was upstairs, I could have been."

Mr Hankin: "You do know don't you? This is when you did the act that killed Arthur?"

Tustin: "I didn't touch Arthur no."

Woman 'doing her eyebrows' at time she's accused of poisoning boy - updates

 

[Tortoise]

13:14JAMES CARTLEDGE
Tustin denies she is lying

Mr Hankin says Tustin re-appeared in the living room to retrieve her phone to 'try and explain what has happened'.

Tustin: "I didn't have to try to explain anything, I explained what happened."

At 2.31pm she sent a message to the balloon lady. At 2.32pm she sent a message to Hughes which she had drafted a little earlier. It said: "Just copped me in the stomach. He has thrown himself all over the floor. Won't get up for s***. I've shut the door on him."

Tustin tells the court: "He was looking at me and acknowledged me and refused to do it (get up). He was on the floor and wouldn't get up. I didn't make a massive deal of it."

Mr Hankin puts it to her that she is lying. Tustin denies she is.

The prosecutor points out that the door was open when she had told Hughes she had shut it on Arthur.

Tustin: "I said I had when I hadn't. Tom would say shut the door on him. The door was broken, the door wouldn't shut because Tom had kicked it off the hinges."

Mr Hankin suggests she had nothing to gain by claiming the door was shut.

Woman 'doing her eyebrows' at time she's accused of poisoning boy - updates

 

[Tortoise]

13:21KEY EVENT
Prosecution says Tustin has been 'caught lying'

Mr Hankin re-reads the transcript of Tustin's police interview describing what happened. At the time she said she was sitting on the sofa and had looked at her phone for a 'split second' when she heard the first crack, adding it was a noise of 'ten'

Mr Hankin asks why her account is different now.

Tustin: "I thought I was on the sofa. When I reviewed the CCTV I had to think where I was as I wasn't on the sofa."

Mr Hankin: "I am sure you did have to think where you were."

He adds: "You have been caught lying."

Tustin: "I haven't been caught lying."

Mr Hankin moves on to the point Tustin realised Arthur was unconscious. He asks in what circumstances she would call an ambulance.

Tustin: "In a normal situation I would call an ambulance but he was breathing. I thought he would come around."

Mr Hankin: "Normal yes. But you had assaulted him. You had caused the collapse."

Tustin denies that was the case. The trial breaks for lunch.

Woman 'doing her eyebrows' at time she's accused of poisoning boy - updates

 

[Carroll520]

It is distressing beyond any other case I have come across, and the temptation is to not read her pathetic responses but this is probably the only time in her life she will be forced to answer questions about his ordeal, and so the longer she is made to sit there and have her feet held to the fire the better. I feel this is Arthur's justice because no one, in authority, who could do anything for him did listen to him during his little life.

It really is so distressing, I don't think I have been this upset about a child since Jamie Bulger many years ago. That is so true, she needs to be made accountable for her actions, to be made feel uncomfortable and for the depravity of her actions to actually sink into her head, which I don't think they have. In her mind, its like she is thinking, I was in pain, I was depressed, I was struggling and I Arthur was adding to that.
I don't get why she just doesn't admit to it, apologise to Arthurs family and pay for what she has done. I think that hits the nail on the head. this is Arthur's justice and perhaps that is why so many of us are so invested in this trial, you just want him to get this justice he deserves

 

[Carroll520]

You’re right, this is the only chance Arthur has of speaking his truth and finally being heard. We need to listen. The longer she’s on the stand, the more she squirms and contradicts, the more she is exposed for what she is, the longer the sentence and some sort of justice for Arthur. It is just so harrowing, I’ve never heard of a case in the UK as distressing as this, I really haven’t. So many different modules of abuse coming at this child from every angle, I think these two have covered every single aspect of abuse, minus sexual. I just find her callousness and such disdain for this child, even in death, so triggering. There is no remorse there at all.

Yes, her disdain for him even now is utterly shocking! But I am thinking it could be a blessing in disguise that she is not hiding this, as it will give the jury/judge more of a reason to give her a longer sentence

 

[Carroll520]

12:56JAMES CARTLEDGE
Tustin denies assaulting Arthur

The footage shows Tustin going into the hallway again.

She says: "I was picking him up, moving him away from the door. Put him back on the thinking step. He threw himself off again."

At 2.29pm Tustin messaged the balloon lady. Mr Hankin says Arthur 'disturbed' her which made her angry.

Tustin: "Arthur disturbed everything."

Mr Hankin: "You told the jury you found Arthur lying on the floor concussed, so your first impression was his injury didn't warrant medical attention?"

Tustin: "I was concerned he had a bruise on his head. It wasn't a normal bruise."

She adds: "The lump was quite big. As I picked him up that lump was there. I have never had to deal with a child knocking himself out. That's genuinely what I thought it was."

Mr Hankin: "You get up from the sofa and walk into the hallway. This is when you assault Arthur isn't it."

Tustin: "No, that didn't happen."

Woman 'doing her eyebrows' at time she's accused of poisoning boy - updates

how can she even thinking of her stupid birthday balloons in the middle of all this!!!!!!
AND TO SAY ARTHUR DISTURBED EVERYTHING!! MY GOD!
I hope the jury were listening well to that!

 

[Tinksx]

how can she even thinking of her stupid birthday balloons in the middle of all this!!!!!!
AND TO SAY ARTHUR DISTURBED EVERYTHING!! MY GOD!
I hope the jury were listening well to that!

Its the “Arthur disturbed everything” for me….

 

[Carroll520]

Its the “Arthur disturbed everything” for me….

Its the lowest of the low. He was an innocent little child.

 

[Dotta]

I dont understand why TH didnt take Arthur when going outside eg. shopping, etc, to bond with HIS son.
I remember my outings as a kid with Dad - they were absolutely fantastic!
And here ET says that he was "ashamed of Arthur"

Ashamed of his own child!

 

[Carroll520]

I dont understand why TH didnt take Arthur when going outside eg. shopping, etc to bond with HIS son.
I remember my outings as a kid with Dad - they were absolutely fantastic!
And here ET says that he was "ashamed of Arthur"

It sounded like Arthur rarely left the house, apart from the time he was brought to her hair appointment. Oh I really hope TH takes the stand, we need to hear what he has to say.

 

[Dotta]

It sounded like Arthur rarely left the house, apart from the time he was brought to her hair appointment. Oh I really hope TH takes the stand, we need to hear what he has to say.

Yes, I want to see him squirm!

 

[Tinksx]

I dont understand why TH didnt take Arthur when going outside eg. shopping, etc to bond with HIS son.
I remember my outings as a kid with Dad - they were absolutely fantastic!
And here ET says that he was "ashamed of Arthur"

Ashamed of his own child!

I suspect Arthur was not taken out in public to hide the abuse he was suffering. They couldn’t even be bothered to get him dressed, it was noted earlier on that he was wearing the same onesie from the Friday until his death. You can’t risk a child screaming “no one will feed me” in the middle of Asda now can you…. The pair of them sicken me!