Alfie Steele's 'sadistic' killers jailed for life after nine-year-old found lifeless in cold bath

The killers of nine-year-old Alfie Steele, who was repeatedly tortured before being found dead in a cold bath, have been jailed for life.

Alfie's mother Carla Scott has been jailed for 27 years and her partner Dirk Howell has been ordered to serve at least 32 years in prison.

The youngster died on February 18, 2021 after being found with 50 injuries all over his body, having been hit with a leather belt and “dunked” in the bath at his home in Droitwich, Worcestershire.

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Scott, 35, was found guilty earlier this week of manslaughter and child cruelty, while 41-year-old Howell was convicted of murder.

Passing sentence on the pair at Coventry Crown Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Wall told them: “You have both refused to tell the truth about the day of Alfie’s death, preferring to lie to pretend that it was no more than a tragic accident and to cover up for one another."

He said it was clear that Alfie "did not have the quiet death you tried to portray". The couple had lied that Alfie had had an epileptic fit and gently fell asleep in the bath, the court heard.

But the judge told the court that the child's death had in fact been "violent and brutal". The couple had decided to torture Alfie on the day of his death, the judge said.

Alfie was denied food as an act of cruelty and routinely subjected to other “sinister” punishments, including being locked outside his Vashon Drive home in cold weather, and made to stand in a statue-like pose, the six-week trial was told.

Alfie died either through drowning, concussive head trauma or mechanical asphyxia - but doctors were unable to determine which it was, the court heard. “Whatever the mechanics of his