During their weekend’s fixtures, football supporters up and down the country organised a tribute in memory of a helpless six-year-old boy who was tragically killed by his father and stepmum.
A number of football clubs including; Birmingham City, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers paid tribute to the young boy by applauding in the sixth minute of the match to represent each year of the boy’s short life.
Fans from all sides came together to show their grief and love towards the child in this devastating story.
The youngster pictured in his beloved Birmingham City shirt was displayed on the score boards of football clubs all across the country, stretching far beyond the Midlands.
City wore “Arthur we love you” shirts and carried a banner with the young fan’s picture on before their match against Millwall.
Just recently, Arthur Labinjo-Hughes’ family tweeted a video of him talking about his dreams to become a famous footballer.
On Friday his stepmother, Emma Tustin was issued a life sentence with a minimum of 29 years after being convicted of murdering her stepson, while his dad was given 21 years after being found guilty of manslaughter.
Following this, the Solihull MP referred the couples sentences to the Attorney General to be reviewed.
The Government has announced a major review which will begin next week to investigate the circumstances that led to Arthur’s death, aiming to improve the agencies that were involved with him before he was murdered.
Arthur moved into a house in Solihull during lockdown with his father and step mum and during the following months received relentless abuse and torment.
He was often isolated while being made to stand for 14 hours a day and forced to sleep on the floor.
The poor boy’s final months of his life was captured in short audio files, where he can be heard crying, “no one loves me” and “someone please feed me”.
Video footage from a CCTV camera in his living room showed Arthur struggling to stand up while making his bed, very visibly starved and weak.
Arthur’s father recently agreed to release his body 18 months on so that his family can finally lay him to rest.
His maternal grandmother described Arthur with a: “beautiful smile” and “kind, nurturing spirit”.
