Tony's Law: MP proposes tougher child cruelty sentences

A proposal to increase the maximum sentence for child cruelty to life in prison is being suggested as an amendment to the Policing Bill.

Tonbridge MP Tom Tugendhat has been campaigning for Tony's Law, named after a 6-year-old boy who had both legs amputated after he was abused.

Tony Hudgell's birth parents were sentenced to the current maximum jail term of 10 years in February 2018.

His family say this limit "doesn't reflect the seriousness of the crimes".

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Tony's adoptive mother, Paula Hudgell, from Kings Hill in Kent, said when she first met him she "broke down in tears and absolutely sobbed".

He was a "tiny, shut down, broken, underweight, legs in plaster, four-month-old baby", she said.

She described how the Evelina Hospital in London had "worked on him for months. They never thought he would survive".

"Children are the most vulnerable in society and the sentences just don't reflect the seriousness of the crimes inflicted," Ms Hudgell argued.

The family want the maximum sentence for child cruelty to be the same as it would be if the crime was committed against an adult - a life sentence.

The amendment to the government's policing bill would give judges the discretion to impose such sentences.

Mr Tugendhat explained that as Tony was too young to identify who had struck him, he "couldn't see his birth parents charged with the appropriate crime.

"In a very rare situation like this, and I stress it is extremely rare, asking which one was responsible is ridiculous."

He said the new law would "make sure that their responsibility is clear, even though a baby cannot give evidence".

Ms Hudgell added: "This will make no difference to Tony but we hope to make a difference for children going forward."

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