Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: Murder-accused dad was 'dominated by cold partner'

A father accused of killing his son was "dominated" by his "calculating" partner who was the "catalyst" for the months of abuse the child endured, a court has heard.

Thomas Hughes and Emma Tustin are both charged with murdering Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in Solihull in June 2020.

He died of a brain injury sustained at Ms Tustin's home.

Andrew Hughes told jurors on Friday his brother "regressed" after meeting Ms Tustin.

Prosecutors allege she carried out the fatal assault, while Mr Hughes, of Stroud Road, Solihull, is accused of aiding the killing. They both deny murder.

The pair are also accused of multiple counts of child cruelty after six-year-old Arthur was made to stand facing a wall sometimes for hours on end, prosecutors have said, as part of a punishment routine.

Before the couple's relationship, Andrew Hughes said his brother was very different.

He said his brother was "ecstatic" he had a son and described their relationship as "them against the world" and never saw him raise a hand to Arthur.

But after he met his co-accused, his "bubbly attitude diminished" and he "went in on himself", Andrew Hughes told jurors at Coventry Crown Court.

The couple's relationship developed very quickly, he said, and his brother's mood then began to alter and he became stricter with Arthur, reprimanding him for more minor things.

"With his immediate family, mom, dad, brothers, the ties seemed to become weaker and weaker. He didn't seem to be invested in keeping that strong." Andrew Hughes said.

Ms Tustin was "controlling" and "cold" he added. When asked by Bernard Richmond, defending Mr Hughes, how he would describe her, he said she "made it hard for everyone" if she did not get what she wanted.

Andrew Hughes added that he never heard Ms Tustin encourage Arthur and she would "always intervene" in his brother's "alone time" with his son.

The court heard Andrew Hughes never saw any bruises on Arthur himself, although he had been shown a photo of the six-year-old with bruises by his brother.

Jurors have previously heard Arthur had 130 injuries all over his body, both old and new.

Under cross examination by Mary Prior, defending Ms Tustin, Andrew Hughes admitted he had only seen her between eight and 10 times from August 2019 to June 2020 and did not make a statement to police, because he did not think what he knew was "relevant".

He said he knew what his brother was accused of, but that he did not know he had "cuffed" the back of Arthur's head and cut up his favourite football shirt.

Earlier on Friday, the court heard Ms Tustin was deemed fit to continue to stand trial after being assessed by a specialist.

The trial continues.

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