Ten-month-old Finley Boden died “as the result of abuse when he should have been one of the most protected children in the local authority area”, a safeguarding review has found.

A report by the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership found safeguarding practices in the lead-up to the child’s death were “inadequate”.

The report said the impact of COVID and lockdown had also “severely disrupted” the “protective systems and services designed to detect, prevent and respond to maltreatment”.

It comes after Shannon Marsden, 22, and Stephen Boden, 30, were found guilty in April last year of the murder of Finley in Derbyshire.

The pair murdered the child on Christmas Day 2020, just weeks after he was returned to their care.

They burnt and beat the infant – leaving him with 130 separate injuries, including multiple bone breaks and fractures.

His injuries included a fractured thigh and broken pelvis, burn marks and 71 bruises. Finley also had sepsis and endocarditis – an infection of the lining of the heart.

Social workers had earlier removed Finley from his parents as the local authority, Derbyshire County Council, believed he was likely to suffer “significant harm” at home.

He was murdered weeks after he returned to Marsden and Boden’s full-time care following a family court order made in October 2020.

One social worker warned at that court hearing that Finley would be “at risk of suffering from neglect, physical and emotional harm” if Marsden and Boden continued taking illegal drugs or failed to continue making positive changes.

A representative for Derbyshire County Council told the hearing that “all parties” agreed Finley should “transition” back to the care of his parents, but asked for this to be staged over four months and with the need for additional drug testing.

However, a guardian, employed by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) – who represented Finley at the near-two-hour hearing – argued that the transition should be faster as the couple had “clearly made and sustained positive changes”.

The final decision was made by two magistrates assisted by a legal adviser – who supported the guardian’s view that an eight-week transition was a “reasonable and proportionate” length of time.

During the couple’s sentencing at Derby Crown Court in May last year, a judge described the pair as “persuasive and accomplished liars” who inflicted “unimaginable cruelty” on their son.

The judge also said the parents lied about Finley having COVID to prevent anyone from coming to see the baby.

Both were given life sentences, with Shannon Marsden sentenced to a minimum term of 27 years, and Stephen Boden sentenced to a minimum term of 29 years.

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