British Couple Jailed for Manslaughter in Death of Four-Year-Old Boy

A British man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the manslaughter of his former girlfriend's young son, while the boy's mother received a 10-year term for failing to protect him from months of abuse. Scott O'Connor, 36, and Zoe Coutts, 35, were convicted at Southwark Crown Court following a four-week trial.

Although both were cleared of murder, jurors found O'Connor guilty of manslaughter and Coutts guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. Kol Page suffered catastrophic head injuries on April 25, 2022, at the family's home in Bromley, southeast London.

Emergency services found him unresponsive. Doctors determined the injuries were consistent with violent assault comparable to a serious road traffic collision. The child survived for two years with severe brain damage, spending 14 months in hospital before moving to foster care.

He died in June 2024 at the age of four as a direct result of those injuries. Prosecutors presented evidence that Kol endured prolonged mistreatment over several months, including repeated black eyes and a patch of hair ripped from his head.

Mobile phone data analyzed by Metropolitan Police detectives showed O'Connor visited the family home 28 times in the month before the April 2022 assault, staying overnight 16 times. This occurred despite Coutts living in accommodation designated for victims of domestic abuse that did not permit male visitors.

The couple repeatedly lied to relatives, friends, paramedics, doctors and police, claiming Kol was clumsy and prone to falling or bumping into things. Text messages recovered by prosecutors revealed the pair making light of harming the child. " They also shared photographs of the boy's injuries.

Rather than seeking urgent medical care after the April 2022 assault, Coutts attended a football match with O'Connor. Mr Justice Johnson told O'Connor he demonstrated "a high degree of culpability" and had "shown no remorse, no insight and no acceptance of responsibility" for his actions.

The judge imposed an additional five-year extended licence period. >"Kol was an innocent little boy who suffered horrific abuse in the place where he should have been safest - at home with his mother. "It was so hard to comfort him, I wanted to cuddle him but it would cause him too much pain.

I see him as my child; I may not have given birth to him, but I see him as my son," she said in a victim impact statement. " Coutts wept in court upon hearing her sentence. The NSPCC described the case as heartbreaking and noted that infants and toddlers are especially vulnerable because they depend entirely on adults for their safety.

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