Tortured Baby P was 'bouncy and happy child' » Communities » 24dash.com

The blond-haired toddler tortured to death in his home is said to have been a happy child with a ready smile.

Deprived of love and attention, he learned to suffer in silence as he was left for hours in his cot or in a play pen in the living room.

The child, known during the court proceedings as Baby P, had become so accustomed to the beatings he endured that he suffered in silence most of the time.

The boy's grandfather said that one Sunday it was 1pm before anyone noticed that the child was in his cot after a friend staying overnight changed her mind about taking him to church.

Even when he had part of a finger missing, eight broken ribs and a broken back, the youngster still managed a smile which masked his true suffering.

Three dogs, including a Rottweiler, shared the family home.

As he grew too old for milk and jars of pureed baby food, he scavenged bits of broken biscuits from older children and was even seen eating dirt in the garden.

His mother sat watching television or at her computer, spending hours in chatrooms, while her boyfriend looked after the child.

She turned a blind eye when the boy was battered and thrown on to the frame of his cot.

It was she who came up with explanations for his bruises, blaming the youngster for being a "head-banger" who threw himself on the floor and against furniture.

Social workers tried to keep the family together, not suspecting that the mother was harbouring a violent boyfriend in the house.

Maria Ward said she visited the house four days before the death and found him in his pushchair. His bruises had been covered up with chocolate, the court heard.

She said: "He was in his buggy. He had eaten a chocolate biscuit and there was chocolate over his face. He had chocolate on his hands and face."

She said she asked the mother to wipe his face before they went out and the mother started cleaning him.

The baby was pushed into the kitchen and was still there when the pre-arranged meeting ended.

Miss Ward said the boy had a scalp infection, which was covered in white cream, and an ear infection.

But she added: "He appeared well. He smiled when I spoke to him."

Miss Ward said she had been content to leave the boy with his mother because she appeared to be co-operative and properly supported.

The boy's natural father said: "He was bouncy and happy to see me. We had a very good relationship."

But when the toddler stayed with him the weekend before his death, he seemed different.

"His head was shaven and scarred. He looked very thin and withdrawn," the father said.

His mother said the boy had pulled out a fingernail and he had a bandage on his finger, he said.

The mother was brought up in nearby Islington by a mother with drink and drug problems. She found out only recently that her father was not her real parent.

When she was young she had been sent to boarding school where she gained GCSEs, including English and IT.

She lied to the baby's father about her age when she started a relationship with him.

After they married, the relationship started falling apart. He moved out of their home after she met her boyfriend.

She said: "I hate housework."

The house was a mess but after a lifetime of dealing with social workers, the mother was able to reassure them.

In June last year, she told police that "I want to be a brilliant mother, I am doing my best".

She appeared to have been blinded by love and would have done anything to keep her new man.

She was accused of "sacrificing" her son for her new love and hope of a new life.

The boyfriend was described by some as simple. He was said to have tortured guinea pigs as a child and tormented frogs by breaking their legs.

He was a keen collector of Nazi memorabilia. Police found a number of knives in the house, along with a German helmet and a swastika.

The mother left him to look after the toddler. When challenged about the screams coming from the child's room, he claimed he was trying to "toughen him up".

Jason Owen had split from his wife and gone on the run with his 15-year-old girlfriend.

They took refuge at the mother's home for five weeks. A hole is said to have been dug in the garden to hide the girl if the police came.

When the boy died, he took the boyfriend to a campsite in Epping Forest, east of London, and is said to have thrown the bloodstained baby clothes into a river.