Babysitting Couple Jailed For Life For Murdering Three-Year-Old Ryan Lovell-Hancox

Couple Guilty Of Killing Three-Year-Old Boy

Friday March 26, 2010

Lisa Dowd, Midlands correspondent

A couple who inflicted more than 70 injuries on a three-year-old boy have been found guilty of his murder.

Ryan Lovell-Hancox suffered a brain haemorrhage brought on by up to 10 blows to his head after contact with a floor or wall.

Experts said his injuries were similar to those suffered by a road accident victim.

The toddler was in the care of Kayley Boleyn, 19, and her boyfriend Christopher Taylor, 25.

When Ryan's mother Amy Hancox said she was struggling to cope, her long time friend Boleyn offered to help.

She was paid £20-£40 a week to look after Ryan in the run up to Christmas 2008, so that Amy could decorate her home.

On 22nd December, Boleyn ran to a neighbour in Bilston, Wolverhampton, and asked him to dial 999.

She told him Ryan had slipped in the bath and hit his head.

After calling the emergency services he went to Boleyn's flat to help.

"There was a baby lying on the bed naked with scratches on his face and his eyes were like foaming, it was a pretty traumatic sight to see," Adrian Mitchel said.

"I stuck my fingers in his mouth and pulled his tongue out and rubbed his back until air came out, he burped and I waited for the ambulance to come."

But when doctors saw the extent of Ryan's injuries, they knew they could not have been caused by a simple fall and they contacted police.

A few days later Ryan suffered a cardiac arrest and died in hospital, on Christmas Eve.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how the couple had humiliated and degraded the child.

He was made to lick spilt soup from the floor and they shouted at him so loudly that he wet himself.

Police believe a friction burn to his nose was caused by his face being rubbed into his own urine on the carpet.

Ryan's mother insists Boleyn had been a trusted friend and that she had no idea the pair had been abusing her son.

"I have followed this trial and I have held my head up high," Amy Hancox said.

"Not only were Taylor and Boleyn on trial but I, myself, was made to feel I was on trial.

"My crime was naivety... since December 24, 2008, I have suffered agonising depression, self loathing, tremendous guilt and loneliness."

The jury were told that there had been an opportunity to save Ryan.

Just hours before he was taken to hospital, a housing officer had called at Boleyn's flat.

She had seen the child's legs poking out from under a duvet and heard him moaning.

But she thought he was simply waking up, and ignored the incident.

Wolverhampton City Council said Boleyn was being monitored by an independent organisation contracted to run after care support for them.

They have launched a serious case review to examine what lessons might be learnt from Ryan's death.

In a statement read outside the court Ryan's Mum and Dad said they would like to express their satisfaction with the verdicts and asked to be given time to rebuild their lives.

Police said what happened to the toddler was "astonishingly cruel", and that we may never know why the pair subjected Ryan to his terrible ordeal.

"Boleyn and Taylor chose to lie," DCI Graeme Squire from West Midlands Police said.

"They lied in police interviews and blamed each other, and we still don't know the exact version of events."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Ryan-Lovell-Hancox-Murder-Carers-Keyley-Boleyn-And-Christopher-Taylor-Guilty-Of-Murdering-Child/Article/201003415583754?lpos=UK_News_Second_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15583754_Ryan_Lovell_Hancox_Murder%3A_Carers_Keyley_Boleyn_And_Christopher_Taylor_Guilty_Of_Murdering_Child

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/8585823.stm

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2908855/Evil-babysitters-killed-toddler.html

Ryan's mother had 'no idea' of catalogue of abuse by carers

Friday 26th March 2010 - 1:27pm

Ryan Lovell-Hancox's mother was, by her own admission, struggling to cope with the demands of single parenthood when she made the fateful decision to allow Ryan to live with her cousin Kayley Boleyn.

Amy Hancox told Wolverhampton Crown Court she had no idea of the catalogue of abuse suffered by Ryan at the defendants' bedsit.

Miss Hancox told the jury which convicted her son's killers how she noticed bruises on his ear a week before he suffered a fatal brain injury.

But when the 21-year-old asked Boleyn how he had sustained the bruises, she was informed they had been caused while he was playing.

Miss Hancox, who was 16 when Ryan was born, issued a statement following the verdicts saying she had suffered from depression and self-loathing since Ryan's death.

Miss Hancox, who was brought up as a Jehovah's Witness, said: "I have followed this trial and I have held my head up high.

"Not only were Taylor and Boleyn on trial but I myself was made to feel I was on trial."

Stressing that she had been "very close" to Boleyn, who spent much time at her mother and father's homes, Miss Hancox added:

"My crime was naivety. Kayley is related to my family. She never showed any signs of nastiness

"Whilst we were young, Kayley was allowed to be taken into our home.

"I grew up in a household that was strictly Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs."

Miss Hancox, who asked Boleyn to look after Ryan to allow her to decorate his room at her house in time for Christmas, said she had put herself under a lot of pressure in December 2008.

Ryan's mother went on: "I wanted my children to experience Christmas in a way that I never had. I was very anxious about having the house in order and tidy.

"Consequently, I began decorating their bedrooms. The kitchen was completed, lounge, hall, stairs and landing, bathroom was also completed.

"I found it hard to carry out this work because Ryan kept running out the back door. I soon learned a three-year-old really can't stay still.

"I asked the children's father and paternal and maternal grandparents for help and they either couldn't or wouldn't help.

"When Kayley offered to look after Ryan for me I was so glad because I knew I would get it done for Christmas.

"Whenever I saw Ryan at my house or at the flat he was always fine, no signs of anything wrong.

"Since 24 December 2008, I have suffered agonising depression, self loathing, tremendous guilt and loneliness.

"All I want is to see these two locked up for a lifetime and most of all I want and need a chance to rebuild my life and put my son to rest after this long period of time."

http://www.24dash.com/news/Communities/2010-03-26-Ryans-mother-had-no-idea-of-catalogue-of-abuse-by-carers

Father pays tribute to 'loving toddler' Ryan Lovell-Hancox

The father of Ryan Lovell-Hancox, who split up with the boy's mother more than a year before his death, issued a moving tribute to his son after Kayley Boleyn, 19, and Christopher Taylor, 25, were found guilty of his murder.

John Lovell, who met Ryan's mother shortly before her 16th birthday, described the three-year-old as a "loving, caring and protective" child with the same interests as any other toddler.

In a statement issued by West Midlands Police, Mr Lovell admitted that the circumstances of Ryan's death had caused him to rethink his approach to life.

The 24-year-old stated: "Nothing is going to bring my son back, let me see his smile, hear his laugh or feel the warmth of his love.

"I cannot put in words how I feel about the two people who took my child's life. He was a three-year-old child who could not defend himself.

"This traumatic incident has affected me deeply.

"It has completely changed my views on a lot of things - the way people treat children, the kind of people you should associate with and the way I live my life."

Mr Lovell added: "I'm glad that my son has finally got the justice he deserves and now I can lay him to rest.

"My little boy was a very sweet, content, polite child.

"He was a typical three-year-old child, into his TV programmes, played with his friends and made us laugh with the things he came out with."

Mr Lovell continued: "He was loved by everyone that knew him and especially family and close friends. He is missed by all that knew him."

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/black-country/black-country-news/2010/03/26/father-paid-tribute-to-loving-toddler-ryan-lovell-hancox-97319-26116293/

this premediated cruelty i am sickened...everyday i see little tots in pushchairs underfed and underclothed, parents swearing and smoking and drinking alcohol....and the little mites abused by every word ..no loving tones or warm kisses...i am crying now...sick of seeing it time and again...something got to be done...my daughter in law is a social worker and she says her hands are tied by red tape .... so many times she says she longs to be able to follow her instincts and remove a child from these dangerous unstable parents ....

I have just read that story on Sky News and I am truly sickened by it. Those b@stards who killed that little boy should be put away for the rest of their lives. The little laddie looks so delicate with such a sweet smile in the photo on Sky News. Evil walks this earth and shares the air we breath. Rest in peace little laddie and God bless your family.

Parents of murdered toddler, Ryan Lovell Hancox, say they can no longer trust anybody after Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn were convicted of the crime.

Babysitters Jailed For Life For Murdering Boy, Three

Thursday July 29, 2010


Child Killers ... Kayley Boleyn and Christopher Taylor

Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn have been jailed for life for murdering three-year-old Ryan Lovell-Hancox, who they were babysitting over Christmas.

The mother who entrusted her son's care to the pair said she would "regret the decision until my dying day".

Police say Ryan had more than 70 different injuries.

He eventually succumbed to a brain haemorrhage in hospital on Christmas Eve 2008.

It was brought on, officers believe, by ten different blows to his head, consistent with his coming into contact with a wall or a floor.

Sky's Lisa Dowd, at Wolverhampton Crown Court, said: "We heard that the last few days of this little boy's life had been hell.

"He was being looked after by Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn, who was a good friend of the boy's mother, but the pair couldn't look after themselves let alone a three-year-old child.

"They were hooked on cannabis and alcohol, they were looking after two dogs better than this little boy and he eventually died in squalor at the hands of these two bullies.

"The judge said it was telling that one witness had heard the child crying out in the night for his mother and these two mocking him."

Boleyn and Taylor tried to explain his injuries away by saying he had slipped in the bath.

But when doctors examined him they saw injuries more like those of a road accident victim and alerted police.

Detectives found Ryan had been humiliated and degraded in their scruffy bedsit.

On one occasion they shouted at him so loudly he wet himself.

He had a friction burn on his nose, thought to have come from his face being rubbed into his own urine on the carpet, and he was also made to lick up spilt soup.

Outside court John Lovell, the father of toddler Ryan, said: "It's sickening. I woke up this morning and I thought I was going to throw up so many times."

Kayley Boleyn must serve a minimum of 13 years and Christopher Taylor must serve a minimum of 15.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Ryan-Lovell-Hancox-Babysitters-Christopher-Taylor-And-Kayley-Boleyn-Get-Life-For-Boys-Murder/Article/201007415672980?lpos=UK_News_News_Your_Way_Region_9&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15672980_Ryan_Lovell-Hancox%3A_Babysitters_Christopher_Taylor_And_Kayley_Boleyn_Get_Life_For_Boys_Murder

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3073971/Brutal-child-killers-get-life.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/29/toddler-murder-couple-jailed

you know me. i believe in the death penalty. this err, man terrified a child so bad he wet himself. this is my take. some, most, people say hangings' too good for them. i don't. for me the death penalty, in those western countries where it still applies, is too humane. for this animal i would first apply a good hiding. the iranians hang these animals from a crane so death is slow. sounds good. go for it. and for those of you who think "no, that's barbaric"...

look at this animal's face. am i wrong?

ps. capital punishment is not a deterrent. it's a punishment.