Finley Boden: murdered 10-month-old baby should have been 'one of most protected children in local area', says safeguarding report

A 10-month-old baby who was murdered by his parents “should have been one of the most protected children in the local authority area”, a new safeguarding report has concluded.

Finley Boden was killed by his parents Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden on Christmas Day in 2020. The vile pair inflicted 130 injuries on the 10-month-old before he collapsed at his family home in Old Whittington, Derbyshire.

Authorities had returned Finley to their care on November 17 via the family court, despite concerns of social services over Marsden and Boden's drug use and the state of their home. After the child returned to their care, he was subjected to a campaign of abuse and was also found to have conditions such as sepsis and pneumonia upon his death.

The Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership published its findings into Finley's case after conducting a Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review. The review said: “In this instance, a child died as the result of abuse when he should have been one of the most protected children in the local authority area.” It was also concluded that “professional interventions should have protected him” from the abuse that would eventually end his short life. The report added that while the level and extent of the abuse in the month leading up to his death “was unknown to professionals working with the family at that time”, it was found that "safeguarding practice during that time was inadequate".

Details of a Family Court order, which was made in October 2020 and released to the media last year, showed that Finley was to be handed back to Marsden and Boden within eight weeks, as well as there being no need for drug-testing of the pair before this handover took place. This was despite protest from Derbyshire County Council, which argued that a four-month transition period should be used to ensure "complete confidence" in their parenting skills, as well as raising "some concerns" over their cannabis use.

The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) also told the Family Court that the risk of harm posed to Finley at the time was not unmanageable and did not require him to be placed out of their care for the "foreseeable future". A spokesperson for Cafcass said that the service was "profoundly sorry" for its role in Finley being paced back into the care of Marsden and Boden.

They added: “What led to his death was the ability of Finley’s parents to deceive everyone involved, about their love for him and their desire to care for him. No-one could have predicted from what was known at the time that they were capable of such cruelty or that there was a risk that they would intentionally hurt him, let alone murder him.”

Carol Cammiss, Derbyshire County Council's executive director for children’s services, said: “Despite the significant Covid restrictions placed on our work at the time, we know there were missed opportunities for stronger practice and we apologise for that.” Marsden and Boden were found guilty of young Finley's murder in April 2023. They were sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 27 and 29 years behind bars respectively.