Before the torment and torture: Arthur’s mother releases pictures of the happy, bubbly little boy

These heartbreaking photos show a smiling Arthur Labinjo-Hughes with his biological mother – months before the youngster was tortured, beaten and murdered by his evil stepmother.

Pictures show the happy, bubbly youngster beaming as he enjoys time with Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, 29. 

In one image he is seen wearing a Superman t-shirt, and in another little Arthur looks delighted as he strolls along a pavement with a Build-a-Bear teddy in a bag slung over his shoulders.

The pictures are in heartbreaking contrast to the emaciated, pain-stricken six-year-old seen in the last footage of him alive before he was murdered by his evil stepmother, Emma Tustin. 

The last images of Arthur alive, recorded on chilling CCTV hours before he was killed, show the rake-thin little boy unable to stand or walk, weeping ‘no one loves me’, and ‘no one’s going to feed me.’  

It followed months of ‘unimaginable suffering’ at the hands of the sadistic 32-year-old and the boy’s father, Thomas Hughes, 29.

Arthur was pushed into his father’s custody in February 2019 after Labinjo-Halcrow killed her partner Gary Cunningham, 29, by stabbing him 12 times with a kitchen knife in a drunken rage.

Pictures show the youngster beaming as he enjoys time with his natural mother, Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, 29. In one image he is seen holding a marshmallow on a stick, while in another he strolls along a pavement with a stuffed toy in a bag slung over his shoulders

The pictures offer a stark contrast to the emaciated, pain-stricken six-year-old seen in the last footage of him alive before he was murdered by his evil stepmother, Emma Tustin

The pictures offer a stark contrast to the emaciated, pain-stricken six-year-old seen in the last footage of him alive before he was murdered

Today, Labinjo-Halcrow spoke of her torment at her son’s death. Her statement was delivered by her mother, Madeleine Halcrow, who regularly paused after bursting into tears

Arthur was pushed into his father’s custody in February 2019 after Labinjo-Halcrow killed her partner Gary Cunningham, 29, by stabbing him 12 times with a kitchen knife in a drunken rage

Hughes met mother-of-four Tustin on Plenty Of Fish and the couple moved with Arthur into her home near Solihull in the West Midlands when the government declared a nationwide lockdown in March 2020.

Today, Labinjo-Halcrow spoke of her torment at his death. Her statement was delivered by her mother, Madeleine Halcrow, who regularly paused after bursting into tears.

‘He was just a child, he had no-one to talk to, no one to ask for help when he was scared and needed protecting the most,’ said Ms Labinjo-Halcrow, who is serving 11 years in prison for killing her partner.

‘My son’s bright blue, effervescent eyes lost their sparkle and they weren’t smiling anymore. They took his sparkle and his naivety from him and then they took him from this world.

‘A child, my child, my little love defenceless, trusting and nothing but loving was killed. His short life was stolen – he will never see another Christmas, another birthday.’

Recalling the last time she spoke to Arthur, she added: ‘It was the most excited I had ever heard him. He knew he was going to see me soon. He asked how many packets of drumstick squashies I had saved him. I told him he could have as many packets as he wanted as long as he ate his sausage, mash and peas first.

‘He giggled his usual mischievous giggle and said ‘OK mum, I promise’.

‘He never got his Drumstick Squashies and I never got to remind him just how beautiful he was or how much he was loved.’

Arthur was pushed into his father’s custody in February 2019 after Labinjo-Halcrow killed her partner Gary Cunningham, 29, by stabbing him 12 times with a kitchen knife in a drunken rage

Arthur’s other grandmother, Joanne Hughes, today said she wanted it ‘on the record’ that Arthur had been a happy, joyous child.

She said: ‘Arthur was the sunlight in all of our lives. He brought joy, laughter and love to all of us and his death has turned our lives into a perpetual grey. He constantly remains in our thoughts and is never forgotten.

Throughout this trial, I have heard of Arthur challenging behaviour – we want it recorded that he was a happy and joyous six-year-old. He reflected that love and joy back to those who treasured him. It has had a devastating effect on our family – especially our 11 year old granddaughter.

Labinjo-Halcrow’s original conviction was quashed after an appeal but she was found guilty of manslaughter after a retrial at Birmingham Crown Court in July, 2021 and sentenced to 11 years.

Mrs Justice Amanda Tipples, sentencing, described how Labinjo-Halcrow had told ‘lie after lie’ about her crime, and showed no remorse.

Labinjo-Halcrow and Mr Cunningham, who met on an alcohol awareness course, both ‘drank too much and had mental health problems’, the judge said.

Mrs Justice Tipples said: ‘There were fights. Gary was violent to you and you were violent to Gary. It was not all one-way. You were as bad as each other. You told lie after lie about the extent of the violence inflicted on you by Gary.’

The court heard Labinjo-Halcrow was seeing another man at the same time as Mr Cunningham with neither man aware of the other.

The judge told her: ‘You are an arch manipulator, to get what you wanted with who you wanted.’

Prior to the killing, during an incident in November 2018 Labinjo-Halcrow had stabbed Mr Cunningham in the arm, while Arthur was in their flat.

During the fatal attack on February 23, 2019, her victim was stabbed four times; once in the chest and three more times in his left leg, including a fatal blow behind his knee which was 11cm deep.

Mrs Justice Tipples said: ‘However drunk and drugged you were that morning I’m quite sure you know what actually happened.’

She added: ‘After you had been arrested you told them (police) he had killed himself. You were taken out of the flat and walked past his dead body covered with a sheet.

‘You didn’t show a flicker of emotion. You stepped over his dead body.’

Mrs Justice Tipples, concluding there was no element of self-defence to her crime, told her: ‘You are an intelligent woman, academically successful in school and attended university.

‘You used that intelligence to tell this jury an extensive and elaborate series of lies you made up after you killed Gary in order to describe the relationship where you had been the victim.’

Emma Tustin, 32, (left) killed Arthur Labinjo-Hughes by repeatedly slamming his head on a hard surface after she and 29-year-old Thomas Hughes starved the youngster and poisoned him with salt