Finley Boden: Chesterfield baby's mother was 'foul mouthed, difficult and defensive' but 'not a killer'

The description of 22-year-old Shannon Marsden was given by her KC Andrew Vout as the trial ended its fifth month.

She and the baby's father Stephen Boden, 30, deny the murder of Finley who suffered 130 injuries including burns to a hand and 59 fractures. Only his left arm and skull were unharmed.

Ten-month-old Finley spent only 39 days with the couple in their two-bedroom terraced house in Holland Road, Old Whittington. He died on Christmas Day 2020.

In his summing up, Mr Vout told the court that Marsden suffered domestic abuse at the hands of Boden. But, like many victims, she lied about this and covered it up.

The barrister said: "She is the sort of person to be on the receiving end of injustice. Bad things happen to people who are not very likeable.

"Prosecution are weaponising symptoms of abuse Shannon suffered and continued to suffer against her. How dangerous this is, how worrying this is.

"You are being told this victim, a foul mouthed, difficult, defensive woman committed murder because of her lies. It is very tempting."

But Mr Vout said that in the days before Finley's death, Marsden phoned her mother, asking her to get police officers to visit the house. She also tried to get Finley taken to a doctor but Boden blocked this, said Mr Vout.

He said the prosecution were wrong to suggest that the parents were "in it together."

He told the jury: "There is only one reason why Stephen Boden didn't want Finley to be seen by a doctor - because he had inflicted those fractures and the doctor was going to find them.

"That is the key in this case. Shannon did want Finley to be seen by a doctor because she did not know of those fractures.

"That Shannon did want Finley seen by a doctor tells you all you need to know about those fractures. It is clear unequivocal evidence that she was not in it with him."

Mr Vout contrasted Marsden's life with the Queen, telling the jury Billy Connolly's joke that the monarch "thought the world smelt of fresh paint."

He said: "She lived in a very different bubble to that of our late Queen.

"She was in a bubble of harshness, unhappiness, an unending barrage of criticism. Why should you consider Shannon's wretched lot? The answer is because you have to judge her, you have to understand her.

"I don't mean like her, I don't mean agree with her, I mean understand her.

"She faced a barrage of criticism that Shannon was 'useless, worthless' for most of her life."

Mr Vout said there was no doubt that Boden was violent towards her. His efforts to minimise this were "rubbish," he told the jury.

Speaking at Derby Crown Court, he reminded the jury that a neighbour reported hearing Marsden "sobbing and howling for an hour or more," sometimes twice a week.

Being a victim of domestic violence is not a defence to murder, said Mr Vout, but it was an important part of the case.

On December 12, Finley could not sleep, Boden called him "mardy" and said: "He just would not stop crying."

Mr Vout asked the jury: "Did something awful happen to Finley?"

While Boden had a "temper tantrum," Marsden would not harm the child.

"She was terrified of cutting Finley's nails for fear of hurting him," added Mr Vout.

The parents also plead not guilty to manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child.

The case continues with the evidence being summed up by the judge Mrs Justice Tipples.