‘We love you Arthur’: Football pays tribute to schoolboy, 6, murdered by family
Birmingham City wore 'Arthur we love you' T-shirts and were pictured carrying a banner bearing their young fan's picture before their match against Millwall.
Footballers and fans across the country have paid tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, who was starved, tortured and murdered his his own family.
The young Birmingham FC fan died of an ‘unsurvivable’ brain injury after his stepmum Emma Tustin slammed his head against a hard surface several times in June last year.
The attack followed a campaign of ‘evil’ abuse by her and his father, Thomas Hughes, at their home in Solihull.
A harrowing nine-week trial heard how the couple starved Arthur, poisoned him with salt and forced him to stand alone in a hallway for 14 hours a day in what prosectors said amounted to ‘child torture’.
Distressing audio footage played to the court revealed Arthur crying ‘no one loves me’ and ‘no one’s going to feed me’ in the run-up to his death.
Now, footballers and fans across the country have come together to remember the youngster, described by his heartbroken biological mother as a ‘beautiful boy with a superpower smile’.
Birmingham City wore ‘Arthur we love you’ T-shirts and were pictured carrying a banner bearing their young fan’s picture before their match against Millwall on Saturday.
The West Midlands club have also arranged for a number of touching tributes to take place at their next home game, which is against Cardiff on December 11.
A statement on the website said: ‘Plans are in place for a flag of remembrance to be installed in the lower Kop for the fixture against the Bluebirds, with a minute’s applause to be held in the game’s sixth minute and accompanied by a message displayed on the ground’s big screen.
‘Two memorial bricks will also be cemented into the stadium in a lasting tribute to Arthur… The club remains deeply saddened by his passing and is in the process of exploring further ways to support children at risk.
‘Rest in Peace, Arthur, may you always have an angel by your side.’
West Ham and Chelsea supporters also united to hold a round of applause at the sixth minute during the match at the London Stadium today, with similar tributes held across the country.
A sixth-minute applause was held as Coventry City took on West Brom, as well as at the Wolves match against Liverpool, and Newcastle’s game against Burnley.
The tributes come after Tustin was jailed for life with a minimum of 29 years for murdering Arthur, while Hughes was handed a 21-year term for manslaughter.
Solihull MP Julian Knight has branded the sentences ‘lenient’ and said he will refer them to the Attorney General on Monday morning.
‘I think anyone reflecting on those sentences yesterday thinks that they were too lenient, and my intention is to try to refer this to the unduly lenient sentencing scheme as soon as possible,’ he said.
‘There’s a palpable sense of real loss and tragedy over this and a sense of anger and questions over how this was allowed to happen and how these monsters were allowed to inflict this horrible torture on this defenceless young boy.’
Cowardly Tustin, who has reportedly been attacked with salt in jail, refused to leave her cell for the sentencing hearing.
It was confirmed yesterday that a review has been launched into the actions of social workers, who visited Arthur two months before his death and raised no safeguarding concerns.
Boris Johnson has vowed to leave ‘no stone unturned’ in the investigation.
Arthur’s death has sent shockwaves across the nation, drawing comparisons with the Baby P child abuse scandal.
After the trial Arthur’s biological mother, who is serving an 11 year prison sentence for murdering her partner in a drunk-fuelled rage, paid tribute to her little boy.
Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow, 27, asked for people to remember ‘the life Arthur lived and to celebrate the beautiful little boy I knew and loved deeply’.
She said Arthur loved reading, playing football and dressing up as superheroes.
‘The details of Arthur’s case are harrowing and incomparable but I want people to know who Arthur was, from his huge smile and his personality to his gentle and caring nature,’ she said in a tribute from her prison cell.
‘If Arthur could ask for one final thing it would be that he would be remembered for his super power. That’s what I will always remember him for, his super power and Arthur’s super power was his smile.’
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.