Overview
- A Southwark Crown Court jury delivered the verdicts Wednesday, convicting Scott O’Connor of manslaughter and Zoe Coutts of causing or allowing her son’s death.
- Doctors found three small-bowel injuries, including a hole in the duodenum and massive internal bleeding, which experts said were caused by high-force blows such as a punch, kick or stamp.
- Met detectives presented thousands of messages, photos, CCTV and phone-location data that showed a pattern of escalating bruises and placed O’Connor at the home 28 times with 16 overnight stays in the month before the assault.
- Evidence included texts where O’Connor wrote “Jesus slap him back to sleep lol,” shifting accounts that blamed falls or “clumsiness,” and a delay in calling 999 that doctors said caused critical brain damage; Kol later spent 14 months in hospital, lived with foster carers and died on June 29, 2024.
- Mr Justice Johnson ordered pre-sentencing reports, and police and prosecutors said the digital trail and medical findings were central to securing the convictions and exposing cancelled social-service visits and repeated deception.