Kemarni Watson Darby: Murdered three-year-old's life 'cruelly cut short'

Kemarni Watson Darby suffered fatal abdominal injuries

The father of a three-year-old who was killed after weeks of beatings said his son's life was "cruelly cut short".

Kemarni Watson Darby died in 2018 after his ribcage was crushed - the last in a series of injuries he suffered at the hands of his mother and her partner.

Nathaniel Pope was convicted of murder, while Alicia Watson was found guilty of causing or allowing her son's death at her West Bromwich flat.

Darren Darby said the pair had left him suffering "a true life sentence".

In a statement read to a sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Darby said his son was "cheeky" and "always smiling and laughing".

Alicia Watson and Nathaniel Pope blamed each other from the witness box

"His life has been cruelly cut short. He had the potential to be so much. I will not get to be involved in the key moments of his life," he said.

"Kemarni was loved by so many people, both friends and family. Everyone has been impacted by his death."

Watson was cleared of murder at the trial in April, but along with Pope was also convicted of child cruelty charges.

Jurors heard Watson and Pope, who blamed each other from the witness box, kept living together for several months after Kemarni died from abdominal injuries in June 2018 - injuries that were likened to a car crash.

Both defence barristers offered mitigation to the hearing after Mr Darby's statement.

Jonas Hankin QC, representing 32-year-old Pope, said his client's "truly dreadful" actions should not be seen as the "purposeful, systematic and perpetual abuse" seen in some other child murder cases.

While Watson's QC, Charles Sherrard, said she had "lost everything" and while he admitted she was "culpable" added the impact on the 31-year-old's mental health had been "significant".

"She is perhaps in a very dark place and may never come out of it," he added.

Pope, of Wolverhampton, and Watson, of Handsworth, Birmingham, will be sentenced on Tuesday.