Finley Boden: Inspector leading Chesterfield murder investigation says it's the most ‘shocking case' he's worked on

In the early hours of Christmas Day 2020 paramedics were called to a house in Old Whittington, Chesterfield.

Finley Boden was rushed to the hospital, but sadly pronounced dead. Police officers who went to the small terraced house on the same day said they faced squalid living conditions. As they entered the front room, the floor was cluttered and clothes were thrown around, making it difficult to walk.

In the kitchen, they found dirty pots, pans, and decaying food around the units and on the floor. The bathroom looked as if it was used as a store room rather than for cleaning.

The mattress, the bedding, pillows, and clothes in Finley’s bedroom were all soiled and dirty nappies were lying on the floor.

DI Stephen Shaw, the senior investigating officer leading the case, said: “There were a lot of signs around the house of the cannabis use and abuse and it was an environment where no child should have to live.

"Despite those early indications, I don’t think anything prepared us for the results of post-mortem identifying multiple injuries to Finely. He had over 130 marks of injuries recorded on his body including 57 different fractures on his bones. It is tragic. Finely suffered greatly in the days before his death.

"If we take into account the level of injuries and Finley’s young age, I never had the misfortune to work on anything quite as shocking.”

Officers working on the case from the beginning heard concerning and shocking comments made by Finley’s parents, Stephen Boden and Shannon Marsden, in the early hours after their son’s death.

DI Stephen Shaw said: “No one can judge how you are going to react once you are involved in a death of a child but Stephen Boden was overheard in the hospital talking about selling FInley’s pram on eBay.

"When transporting Stephen and Shanon to the house, officers overheard them talking in the car about Christmas dinner. I think it goes to show the lack of understanding and lack of knowledge in how to react and how their lives have become so disjointed.”

The post-mortem took place on December 28 and Finley’s parents, were arrested. But they were soon bailed and remained under investigation on police bail for nearly a year when the case was being built based on the expert medical evidence.

Complex medical procedures such as CT scanning of Finley’s bones and body parts had been carried out before experts could look into the findings.

DI Shaw said: “It was clear from that evidence that those injuries could not have happened accidentally. All the experts agreed they were inflicted injuries and that it took quite a lot of force to cause such a level of injuries to a small baby.

“The experts were able to age some of these injuries inflicted over the period of a couple of weeks. It was then possible to share the medical evidence with specialist pediatricians and professionals who work in child protection, who could offer a further opinion.

"The evidence showed that those injuries were not consistent with any sort of accident and a reasonable parent should have clearly spotted them and looked for medical help.”

During the investigation and trial, several toxicology tests were carried out on Shannon and Stephen and they concluded that both parents were frequent users of cannabis.

DI Shaw said: “Sadly post-mortem and toxicology showed evidence that Finley was inhaling cannabis smoke from his parents. Cannabis is obviously a factor in this case, which presumably affected Shannon’s and Stephen’s decision-making, and their ability to parent.” DI Shaw added: "It’s been clearly a long road for justice in the case of Finley Boden. This investigation started over two years ago and the trial effectively lasted five months. Over that period jury has heard a lot of evidence around the injuries and the abuse that Finley suffered and I am pleased to say the conclusion has been reached which shows that Finley’s life was understood and justice has been served for the people who treated him so cruelly in the last few weeks of his life.

“Cases like this spread further than just a local community and I think they shock and affect everybody around the UK who hears about them. Hopefully, now that Finley’s parents have been brought to justice, it offers some consolation to people out there and shows that these matters are being investigated and there are consequences for those who act in such a despicable way.

“This case was worked on by a number of officers, some of them for several years. They had to endure seeing and learning about some pretty distressing and miserable things and despite being police officers, they are only human and they get affected by this.

"It is a strange honour to work on any death investigation, but through the investigation you realise that you are working on behalf of Finley who is no longer here. Officers worked with a great deal of inspiration and they wanted to be Finley’s voice.

"I would really like to thank my colleagues who have helped to put this case together and bring it to a successful conclusion.”