Boy, 11, meets PM after child cruelty register win

Campaigner Paula Hudgell said meeting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with her adopted son Tony was "quite emotional" after they won their campaign for a UK child cruelty register.

Tony, who had both of his legs amputated after he was assaulted by his birth parents, and his adoptive mother met Sir Keir on Tuesday and discussed the new register, which Paula said would save many lives.

It comes after the pair, from West Malling in Kent, won their campaign to have parents who are found guilty of neglect to be monitored in a similar way to sex offenders, a move which the government backed in February.

Paula said: "It felt quite surreal in some ways."

She added: "It was such an honour for us to meet the prime minister. He was very personable, telling Tony how proud he was of him and how much he's achieved."

Tony, now 11, was attacked by Jody Simpson and Anthony Smith when he was 41 days old, leading to him suffer organ failure, toxic shock and sepsis.

Simpson and Smith were jailed for 10 years in 2018.

He received the British Empire Medal for services to the prevention of child abuse in December 2023.

Tony also went on to co-found the Tony Hudgell Foundation and helped raise more than £1.7m for charity during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the plans campaigned for by Paula Hudgell, parents and caregivers who physically harm children would be more closely monitored by police and would face restrictions similar to registered sex offenders, the Home Office said.

The register would cover child neglect, child cruelty, abandonment, female genital mutilation (FGM) and infanticide.

Those on it would have to tell police if they move house, change their identity, travel abroad or live with children again after serving their sentence.

The plans, brought in an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, are expected to be tabled "shortly".

Aditional reporting by PA Media.

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