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A mum and her ex-boyfriend have been jailed over their repeated attacks and neglect of the two-year-old boy. Kol Page was found by the London Ambulance Service on Monday, April 25 2022, not breathing, with bruises over his face and a serious injury to his abdomen, caused by a stamp or punch.

The little boy was left with brain damage and life-changing injuries after being attacked by Scott O'Connor, 36, with Zoe Coutts, 35, turning a blind eye. He bravely lived on with a disability for two more years and sustained abuse from the pair for months afterwards in Bromley, southeast London. Kol died aged just four years and three months on Saturday, June 29 2024, from the injuries inflicted when he was just two years old.

Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, O'Connor was found guilty of manslaughter and Coutts was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.

O'Connor was today given an extended determinate sentence of 23 years, with 18 years imprisonment and a five-year extended licence period. Coutts was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Judge Mr Justice Johnson told O'Connor he had "shown no remorse, no insight, and no acceptance of responsibility" for his actions.

Turning to Coutts, the judge said: "I am sure that you disregarded Cole's welfare over a period of weeks and that you failed to take steps to protect him from your partner, despite the obvious signs of what was happening."

On the morning of April 25 2022, O'Connor left the house to go to work, leaving Coutts at home with Kol. WhatsApp messages from that morning showed both were aware Kol was unwell.

A 999 call was made after Coutts, in a 45-second call to a friend, said Kol was not breathing, to which her friend replied: "Why are you talking to me, call an ambulance."

When paramedics arrived, Coutts claimed Kol had fallen from a highchair but changed her account on the arrival of police.

Although only an indicative timeframe, expert medical evidence was that the fatal blow(s) were likely to have occurred between around 3.30am and 8.30am on the morning of April 25 2022.

Both defendants were present for most of that period until around 8.11am, when O'Connor left the property for work. The Ambulance Service arrived by 9.45am by which time Kol had already collapsed.

Experts determined that the injuries to Kol's abdomen were caused by one or more blows with a force more consistent with a major road traffic accident or a fall from a first or second storey.

They could not have been caused by an accident at home resulting from Kol's 'clumsiness', as initially claimed by both defendants. They could not have been caused by an accident at home resulting from Kol's 'clumsiness', as initially claimed by both defendants.

The CPS charged Coutts and O'Connor in 2022 and a trial at Woolwich Crown Court began in February 2024. During that trial, the judge ruled there was no case to answer on some charges, stopping proceedings.

The prosecution appealed, and in July 2024 the Court of Appeal overturned that ruling, finding those charges could and should have been left to a jury, and ordered a new trial.

Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn, whose homicide team led the investigation, said: "Kol was an innocent little boy who suffered horrific abuse in the place where he should have been safest - at home with his mother.

"Coutts and her boyfriend, O'Connor, tried to deceive paramedics, doctors and police officers, repeating lie after lie about how Kol came to be so seriously injured.

"It was the tireless work of detectives that exposed the couple's lies, combing through months of messages, appalling pictures and CCTV evidence to uncover the sustained abuse suffered by that little boy.

"I want to thank the first responders who tried to help Kol in a case that has been particularly harrowing for all involved, especially the doctors and nurses who cared for him over such as sustained period of time and his foster carers who gave him immense compassion and safety.

"Kol was boisterous, cheeky and endlessly loving to everyone who knew him. He should have had a bright future, but was instead let down by those who should have protected him most. He will always be remembered."

In a victim impact statement, Kol's foster parents described how he was so badly injured they initially moved into the hospital to look after him. They said that he loved seeing the emotional support dog and bought him guinea pigs after seeing how he responded to them sitting in his lap.

His foster parents told the court: "I immediately fell in love with him. I knew he needed someone to be there for him, to protect him. He was in so much pain. He would cry out in pain so much. You could hear him from the lifts as you walked into the hospital. I knew it was him as he had such a distinctive cry.

"It was so hard to comfort him, I wanted to cuddle him but it would cause him too much pain. But it was nice as the staff would say thank goodness you are here, as when he could hear my voice it would placate him. This meant that I knew he loved me in the same way I loved him.

"I see him as my child; I may not have given birth to him, but I see him as my son. I am blessed to have been able to have looked after Kol for the time I did."