Overview
- At Southwark Crown Court on Friday, Scott O’Connor received an extended 23-year sentence made up of 18 years in prison and five years on licence, and Zoe Coutts was jailed for 10 years.
- The pair were cleared of murder but, after a four-week retrial in March 2026, jurors convicted O’Connor of manslaughter and Coutts of causing or allowing the death of a child.
- Prosecutors said expert evidence showed Kol’s abdominal injuries were from one or more high‑force blows consistent with a serious car crash or a fall from height, making an accident at home implausible.
- Investigators mapped a pattern of escalating abuse using months of photos, WhatsApp messages that included “Jesus slap him back to sleep lol,” CCTV, and phone and cell‑site data, while the couple gave false accounts to medics and police.
- Kol was found unresponsive in April 2022, suffered catastrophic brain damage, spent 14 months in hospital, then lived with foster carers before dying on June 29, 2024, and the NSPCC urged the public to report safeguarding fears about very young children.