The parents killed the baby after the family court said they did not pose an unmanageable risk

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A transcript of a Family Court hearing, conducted over the phone during the pandemic, has been released following a request to the supreme court by the PA news agency and other media.

It shows that despite local council calls for a phased four-month transition into care for parents Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden and drug tests for the couple, the court ordered their return to them within eight weeks without any testing.

It also reveals that Finley was returned to his parents despite the fact that they seemed to lie about his drug use, with multiple drug deals in the days immediately before his murder.

Finley died on Christmas Day 2020 after a campaign of abuse at the hands of Marsden and Boden, which left him with 150 injuries, including multiple broken and broken bones, bruises and burns.

The 10-month-old boy died just over a month after being returned to his parents’ full-time care at their home in Old Whittington, USA. Couch, derbyshirein November 2020, following a court order issued at a hearing at the Chesterfield Justice Center on October 1.

The transcript of that hearing shows that the parents were said not to “present such a risk” to Finley that it was “unmanageable” or would require him “to be removed from their care for the foreseeable future.”

The documents also show that the court ordered Finley returned to his parents within eight weeks, despite social services asking for a four-month transition because they had “some concerns” about cannabis use and coping skills. Boden and Marsden breeding.

Finley was placed under a care order a month before he was born due to concerns about the home environment and his parents’ use of the schedule B drug.

Other documents released by the court show that social workers found the house to smell of urine and cannabis, with garbage and flies around the property.

While being cared for by carers, Finley began seeing his parents at scheduled meetings, which were also attended by social services.

While Boden and Marsden were found to have made improvements while Finley was in care, including cleaning the house and cutting down on drug use, social worker reports from September 2020 said the couple “had not yet had the opportunity to fully demonstrate its ability to meet the requirements. Finley’s needs” or to protect him from harm.

A social worker also warned that Finley would be “at risk of neglect, physical and emotional harm” if his parents continued to use drugs or did not continue to make positive changes.

At the Family Court hearing, a Derbyshire County Council representative said “all parties” agreed the plan for Finley should be for him to “transition” into parental care, but asked that this be done. for four months and with the need for additional drug testing.

However, a representative from the Children and Family Court Advice and Support Service (Cafcass), which represented Finley himself in the nearly two-hour hearing, questioned a four-month transition and said he did not believe that regular testing of additional drugs were necessary.

They said Cafcass’s guardian “remains of the opinion” that Finley’s well-being requires rehabilitation in his parents’ care “and that should happen within a period of eight weeks”, with continued supervision by the council after that.

They added that Derbyshire County Council was “not bringing a case before the court to suggest that these parents pose such a risk” to Finley that the risk is “unmanageable” and requires him to be removed from their care for the foreseeable future. .

Cannabis use later became a key issue in the criminal trial, with the jury hearing how a social worker witnessed a drug sale and jurors being shown pictures of cannabis paraphernalia alongside baby formula that had gone off in the family’s messy home.

A Cafcass spokesman said: “It is not possible to say whether a longer transition plan would have prevented Finley’s death.

“What led to his death was his parents’ ability to deceive everyone involved about their love for him and their desire to care for him.

“This hoax included his own extended family. 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 harm him, let alone murder him.”

At the Family Court hearing, a council representative said drug tests carried out the previous January had revealed that the parents were lying about their drug use, as they had shown “far greater use” than they admitted.

They said that while cannabis use was not “an impediment” to Finley returning to his parents, failure to enforce regular drug tests could “send the wrong message.”

They added: “It seems there have been times in the past where parents have done better, but then for whatever reason there has been a decline in the standard of parenting they have provided.

“All things are not equal and unfortunately some concerns have been raised in recent weeks that I would suggest need that longer period for the court (to have) full confidence.”

Finley’s hearing was presided over by two lay magistrates, also known as justices of the peace.

These are volunteers who spend their time supervising cases in the Justice of the Peace and Family Courts.

They are not legally trained, but make decisions with the assistance of a trained legal advisor who advises on issues of law and procedure.

In their judgment, they concluded that four months was “too long for adequate rehabilitation in parental care to take place.”

“We believe that eight weeks is a reasonable and proportionate time for the process to take place, which most importantly protects [Finley’s] well-being, which is our main consideration.

On drug testing, they added: “We conclude that while such information may be beneficial, it is not necessary to ensure that proceedings are properly concluded.

“However, parents must continue to engage with the Derbyshire Recovery Partnership regarding their drug use.”

Boden and Marsden will be sentenced in Derby Crown Cut on Friday.