23 Jun 2011

Murdered toddler was not protected from killers

The killers of murdered toddler Ryan Lovell-Hancox were known to child protection agencies, a report has found. The three-year-old was tortured by a couple who his mother had entrusted with his care.

Ryan Lovell-Hancox died from a brain injury he received at the Bilston, West Midlands, home of Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn in December 2008.

Ryan’s mother, Amy Hancox, knew nothing of the abuse. Taylor and Boleyn were all “known” to statutory authorities, a serious case review by Wolverhampton’s Safeguarding Children Board found.

Miss Hancox paid Boleyn and her boyfriend Taylor £40 a week to look after her three-year-old son after realising she could not cope with the strains of motherhood.

The 21-year-old suffered from mental health problems and was trying to decorate her flat.

She thought Boleyn would provide her young son with the love and attention he needed.

They were cousins, had grown up together and Miss Hancox had no reason not to trust the 19-year-old when she left Ryan at the flat she shared with Taylor, 25, in Bilston, in November 2008.

A month later the child was in a coma in hospital, having suffered a massive brain haemorrhage at the ground floor flat in Slim Avenue.

The “bubbly, intelligent boy” never woke up and on Christmas Eve he died.

Boleyn and Taylor were jailed for life for Ryan’s murder at Wolverhampton Crown Court in July last year.

A computer generated image of Ryan's injuries has been released.

Life turned to ‘hell’

This computer generated image of Ryan’s injuries has been released.

The court heard how the toddler’s life turned to “hell” as he was forced to live in squalor during the month spent with Boleyn and Taylor.

The violence he suffered at the hands of the couple, who were both addicted to cannabis and alcohol, was not borne from a “flash of temper” but was sustained and horrific.

The child was repeatedly beaten about the face, back and buttocks. His skull received 10 severe blows and he had more than 70 injuries to his body by the time he died.

Two days before his death, Miss Hancox confronted Boleyn and Taylor at their home as she tried to see her son for what would have been the last time.

But by this stage the boy had severe bruising to his face and they stopped her from entering the house.

The duo even managed to see off a social worker the day Ryan was taken to hospital in a coma.

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