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A woman\u2019s ex-boyfriend has been jailed for the manslaughter of her young son, while she was imprisoned for allowing the death of her child.<\/p>\n
Kol Page was subjected to escalating violence while in the couple\u2019s care in April 2022.<\/p>\n
He died, aged four, in June 2024 as a result of his injuries.<\/p>\n
Scott O\u2019Connor, 36, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday to 18 years\u2019 imprisonment and a five-year extended licence period.<\/p>\n
Kol\u2019s mother Zoe Coutts, 35, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors earlier said that Kol\u2019s \u201ccatastrophic\u201d injuries were of the force \u201cseen in a serious road traffic accident or a fall from a height onto a hard object\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Scott](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/01KMJVYNKVSM5JRRVSW2QGBYGE.jpg\")
Scott O’Connor was found guilty of Kol Page’s manslaughter (PA)<\/p>\n
Jurors cleared the couple of murder but convicted Coutts of causing or allowing the death of a child, and O\u2019Connor, her boyfriend at the time, of manslaughter.<\/p>\n
The Honourable Mr Justice Johnson said O\u2019Connor had carried out a \u201cdeliberate intentional assault\u201d on an \u201cinnocent and defenceless two-year-old boy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sentencing O\u2019Connor, the judge told him: \u201cYou struck a two-year-old child with sufficient force to tear internal tissues and cause catastrophic bleeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have shown no remorse, no insight and no acceptance of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
While being led away after being jailed, O\u2019Connor shouted: \u201cFor something I didn\u2019t f****** do mate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge said Coutts, who wept as she was being sentenced, \u201cdid not directly inflict the violence\u201d but told her she \u201cfailed to take steps to protect him (Kol) from your partner despite the obvious signs of what was happening\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sentencing Coutts, the judge told her: \u201cYou must have known that the injuries were inflicted by Scott O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of protecting Kol from O\u2019Connor, you continued to live with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of taking Kol to receive the medical attention that he so obviously needed, you went to watch a football match with Scott O\u2019Connor.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kol\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/edcea183651c47aead47befd34803ac8Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc4MzE5NTQ3-2.84017052.jpg\")
Kol\u2019s mother Zoe Coutts was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of causing or allowing the death of a child (PA Media)<\/p>\n
The judge told the pair: \u201cEach of you continues to deny responsibility, each blames the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither of you has shown any remorse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kol suffered bruising of an escalating severity and was photographed with two black eyes on 9 April 2022, with medical experts telling jurors during the trial that the bruising was likely from two punches.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Ed Vickers KC said the couple went to a football match rather than seek medical assistance for the bruised toddler.<\/p>\n
During the trial, jurors were shown text messages between the couple, who met on dating app Bumble, including an exchange on the morning of 20 April 2022.<\/p>\n
In the exchange, Coutts messaged O\u2019Connor to say Kol had been \u201cwhinging\u201d, and O\u2019Connor replied saying: \u201cJesus slap him back to sleep lol\u201d.<\/p>\n
Emergency services were called on 25 April 2022, and Kol was taken to hospital where he had surgery and three injuries to the small bowel were seen.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said the injuries were caused by significant force to the abdomen, as the result of a punch, kick or stamp.<\/p>\n
Kol suffered internal bleeding as a result of his injuries leading to cardiac arrest which resulted in severe brain damage.<\/p>\n
His injuries were so severe that doctors could not give him enough medication to take away his pain without risking causing his death and he died just over two years later after being cared for by foster parents.<\/p>\n
In a victim impact statement, Kol\u2019s foster parents described how he was so badly injured they initially moved into the hospital to look after him.<\/p>\n
Kol\u2019s foster mother said he was \u201cin so much pain\u201d and that she \u201cstayed up night after night caring for him\u201d.<\/p>\n
Charles Langley KC, mitigating for Coutts, said it was O\u2019Connor \u201cwho caused all the injuries to Kol\u201d.<\/p>\n
Michael Turner KC, mitigating for O\u2019Connor, said he had a \u201cmomentarily loss of control\u201d and there was no intention to kill Kol.<\/p>\n
Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn, whose homicide team led the investigation, said: \u201cKol was an innocent little boy who suffered horrific abuse in the place where he should have been safest \u2013 at home with his mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoutts and her boyfriend, O\u2019Connor, tried to deceive paramedics, doctors and police officers, repeating lie after lie about how Kol came to be so seriously injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cKol was boisterous, cheeky and endlessly loving to everyone who knew him. He should have had a bright future, but was instead let down by those who should have protected him most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard Murrison, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: \u201cKol was a little boy who deserved to be safe, loved, and protected.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat he was so catastrophically failed by the very people who should have cared for him most is something that will stay with everyone who has been involved in this case.<\/p>\n
\u201cScott O\u2019Connor subjected Kol to a campaign of abuse so severe that it ultimately cost him his life. His own mother, Zoe Coutts, did nothing to protect him, stop the abuse, or report what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
An NSPCC spokesperson said it was a \u201cheartbreaking case\u201d and \u201cKol was subjected to sustained violence that caused catastrophic injuries and ultimately led to his death\u201d.<\/p>\n
They added: \u201cBabies and young children are particularly vulnerable to abuse because they are completely reliant on the adults around them for care and protection. Also, there may be no regular involvement with professionals if parents or carers choose to care for their children at home and keep others away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all have a part to play in keeping children safe, and sometimes that means asking difficult questions and thinking the unthinkable. We all need to challenge things that don\u2019t seem right and share our worries with those who can intervene.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who has concerns about a child\u2019s welfare or safety can contact the NSPCC\u2019s free and confidential helpline on 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk. People should call the police on 999 if a child is in immediate danger.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":573441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[95343,1343,49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-573440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-bromley","tag-courts","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}