Alfie Steele: Couple found guilty over murder of 9-year-old who was put in cold bath as punishment

A mother and her partner have been found guilty over the killing of her nine-year-old son following a series of assaults. Carla Scott and her partner, Dirk Howell have been convicted at Coventry Crown Court of the manslaughter of her nine-year-old son, Alfie Steele at their home in Worcestershire.

Alfie Steele was repeatedly beaten and assaulted and was put in a cold bath as a punishment prior to his death in February 2021, the trial heard. Both Scott and Howell had denied Alfie was “dunked” in the water as part of a “sinister” regime of correction at his mum’s address in Droitwich.

According to Sky News, jurors at Coventry Crown Court heard that Alfie had 50 injuries all over his body, with only a handful likely to be attributed to normal childhood bumps and scrapes.

Medical experts previously told the jury that seven of his head and face injuries were most likely caused by four different blows

Scott dialled 999 at 2.24pm on the day of his death, telling the operator that "Alfie had fallen asleep in the bath." When cops arrived, Howell was not at the house; Scott later claimed that he found the child "submerged" and that he had earlier "hit his head."

Scott, 35, denied murdering her son and said in court that she had not "belted" Alfie, while her partner claimed to have tried CPR to resuscitate the kid. He also told the jury that he had not beaten the schoolboy and that he had not sought to stage a cover-up.

Jurors heard distressing 999 calls from neighbours who tried to raise the alarm before Alfie eventually died. The pair will be sentenced on Thursday, Judge Mr Justice Mark Wall said.