Couple jailed over death of four-year-old boy

A man who killed his ex-girlfriend's young son has been jailed for 18 years and the child's mother has also been imprisoned for failing to prevent the abuse that led to his death.

Kol Page, 4, died in June 2024 from catastrophic brain injuries that were caused while in the couple's care in Bromley, south-east London, in April 2022.

Although both defendants were cleared of murder at Southwark Crown Court, Scott O'Connor, 36, was found guilty of manslaughter and also handed an extended licence period of five years.

The boy's mother, Zoe Coutts, 35, was sentenced to 10 years after being convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child.

O'Connor and Coutts falsely claimed Kol's injuries were caused by accidents.

On 25 April 2022, emergency services were called to their home and found him unresponsive with severe head injuries. Doctors later confirmed he had internal injuries consistent with violent assault.

Kol was left with catastrophic brain damage and required constant care, spending 14 months in hospital before moving to foster care. He died in June 2024 as a result of his injuries.

Both defendants denied responsibility and gave changing accounts but evidence showed the pair had repeatedly abused the child.

Coutts claimed that Kol was just "clumsy", before alleging that O'Connor had sexually abused her child and that the injuries were entirely his doing.

The child was beaten over several months, with the pair lying to family and friends that he was always "falling off things and bumping into things".

Metropolitan Police detectives analysed mobile phone data to prove that O'Connor was at the family home 28 times in the month prior to Kol's death, staying overnight 16 times.

This was despite Coutts living in accommodation that helped victims of domestic abuse and did not allow male visitors.

His death was attributed to the severe injuries inflicted during that time.

Prosecutors described the injuries as "catastrophic", comparable to those sustained in a serious road traffic collision or a fall from height on to a hard surface.

Det Ch Insp Kate Blackburn, whose homicide team led the investigation, said: "Kol was an innocent little boy who suffered horrific abuse in the place where he should have been safest - at home with his mother.

"Coutts and her new boyfriend, O'Connor, tried to deceive paramedics, doctors and police officers, repeating lie after lie about how Kol came to be so seriously injured.

"It was the tireless work of detectives that exposed the couple's lies, combing through months of messages, appalling pictures and CCTV evidence to uncover the sustained abuse suffered by that little boy."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk