Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was just six when he was murdered by his stepmum Emma Tustin. Photo / Handout / Supplied
Arthur Labinjo-Hughes was just six when he was murdered by his stepmum Emma Tustin. Photo / Handout / Supplied
A British stepmother who poisoned and tortured her six-year-old stepson to death has been moved to isolation over fears she has become the target of other prisoners.
Emma Tustin, 32, was convicted of the murdering little Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in June last year following a six month "campaign of cruelty" that eventually led to the boy's death.
She was sentenced to a minimum of 29 years in prison while Arthur's father Thomas Hughes, 29, – who was found guilty of manslaughter – was handed a 21-year sentence.
The pair were also found guilty of multiple counts of child cruelty that included forcing Arthur to stand for hours, making him sleep on the floor and restricting his food in the months leading up to his death.
Tustin is now serving time in HMP (Her Majesty's Prison) Peterborough, a closed woman's jail two hours north of London, where she has been placed into "isolation for her own protection", according to The Sun.
The killer's status as a "vulnerable prisoner" means she has no contact with other inmates and spends her days with just prison officers for company who monitor her eating, exercising and washing.
Tustin and Hughes subjected Arthur to a six-month "campaign of cruelty" that eventually led to the boy's death. Photo / CPS
She's also reportedly seen as the "top target" for other female convicts and is under "near-constant observation" to ensure she does not self-harm.
"Every effort is being made to protect her from attack. Like it or not, prison officers have a duty to keep order and the rule of law inside," a source told the publication.
"In her case, they're gritting their teeth to do it but she's a massive target. It's only a matter of time before someone takes a chance to do her in."
Tustin and Hughes were jailed at Coventry crown court last week after jurors heard how Arthur's stepmum carried out the final fatal assault that took his life by violently shaking him and repeatedly banging his head on a hard surface.
Tustin also shared snaps on social media boasting of her spending habits while the six-year-old cried out for food and wore the same pyjamas for five days in a row.
Arthur's frail and skeletal body was covered with bruises when he died. Photo / Handout / Supplied
In one photo, the killer couple posed in a spa they bought during a spring heatwave, while Arthur was left roasting in a fluffy onesie.
The pair were pictured grinning with damp hair after cooling off in the water in an Instagram post shared just six weeks before Arthur was murdered.
They even assembled a netted gazebo around the tub to protect themselves from the sun as well as installing a double hanging garden chair to unwind on.
Arthur's frail and skeletal body was covered with 130 bruises and he suffered 93 different areas of injury – including on his head, arms, legs, feet and torso when he died.
The killer parents shared selfies enjoying their spa while little Arthur suffered. Photo / Supplied
The court heard he was subjected to a "campaign of cruelty" that matched the "medical definition of child torture" during the lengthy seven-week trial.
Tustin recorded more than 22 pictures and videos of Arthur in distress highlighting the horrific abuse he was suffering.
Jurors were forced to sit through haunting clips of the frail young boy crying out "no one loves me" and "no one is going to feed me" repeatedly.
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