A drug addict who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s 15-month-old son has been jailed for life.
Jake Drummond has been sentenced at the Old Bailey for life with a minimum term of 32 years for a ‘sadistic’ campaign of abuse culminating in the murder of Jacob Lennon.
The victim’s mother Louise Lennon, 32, was also jailed for 10 years for allowing Jacob’s death.
Jacob suffered a catalogue of injuries to his face, body and genitals inflicted by Drummond the course of three weeks, the court.
The abuse culminated on August 27 2019, when cocaine addict Drummond, 33, fatally shook and hit the little boy, leaving his face so bruised and swollen he was described as looking like a ‘panda’.
Jacob’s mother Louise not only failed to stop the abuse but joked about it with Drummond, blamed another child for the injuries and lied to social services to avoid anyone finding out after her case was downgraded.
Five days before the killing, Drummond messaged her saying he was putting Jacob in the ‘torture chamber’ in reference to his bedroom.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey in March, Drummond was found guilty of murder and wounding Jacob by extreme pinching or biting his penis and piercing his scrotum with a skewer.
The twisted pair previously denied any wrongdoing and blamed each other for Jacob’s horrific injuries.
On Friday, Mr Justice Sweeting handed Drummond a life sentence with a minimum term of 32 years for murder and six years to run concurrently for wounding.
Lennon was handed 10 years with six years’ imprisonment concurrent for the cruelty charge.
In the televised sentencing, the senior judge said Drummond was ’emotionally volatile’ which was made worse by his drug use.
He rejected Lennon’s claim that she was coercively controlled by her boyfriend, saying she had prioritised her relationship over her son’s welfare.
The judge said photographs taken by Lennon of Jacob’s injuries were ‘truly shocking’ and noted one of her friends had described his head as looking like a ‘basketball’.
He said: ‘Perhaps the most haunting photograph is not one of those that show injury but that taken on August 12 when Jacob appears well, a bright and cheerful toddler – less than a fortnight later he was dead.’
Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley, of Scotland Yard, said it was the saddest case of his 30-year career, and ‘distressing and emotional’ for all those involved.
He said what Jacob suffered was ‘truly awful and cruel’ with the fatal head injury likened to being dropped from a first floor building.
‘There were over 20 individual injuries to his body at the time of his death.
‘One of the most significant injuries was the injury to his genitalia, which was cruel and sadistic in its own right,’ Mr Jolley said.
He added that the defendants were ‘quite despicable’ as they joked about Jacob’s suffering in messages punctuated by laughing emojis.
Social Services had placed Jacob under a child protection plan under the category of emotional abuse in December 2018 and the case had been downgraded to the lowest category a month before his death.
On August 20 2019 Lennon lied to a social worker by saying she was on holiday in Hastings to skip a planned visit.
One day before the fatal attack, Drummond became angered at having to go to a police station after a former girlfriend accused him of harassing her in a way that was ‘little short of obsessive’.
Early the next day, Jacob was taken out of bed and shaken and hit so severely he fell unconscious.
Medics found Jacob’s eyes were so swollen they could not open and he ‘looked like a panda’ and he died shortly after being taken to hospital.
A post-mortem examination found he died from a fatal head injury, likely from being hit against a blunt surface while being shaken, as well as 20 marks of recent injury.
The pathologist identified a ‘gaping’ 3cm long cut to Jacob’s penis from ‘extreme pinching’ or ‘biting’ and a wound to his scrotum consistent with being pierced with a skewer.
During the investigation, Drummond and Lennon kept changing their stories and even tried to blame another child for the injuries to Jacob’s genitals, saying they could have been inflicted with a plastic toy knife.
Lennon denied responsibility for the attacks and claimed she was ‘coerced and threatened’.
Her barrister Jane Bickerstaff KC said she had been ‘deceived’ by the men in her life and was a victim of Drummond’s ‘violent and sadistic’ behaviour.
Ms Bickerstaff said Lennon had been ‘extremely fearful’ that Social Services would see Jacob’s bruises and her case be ‘re-categorised’ after being downgraded on July 29 as a result of her efforts.
Mitigating for Drummond, Anne Whyte KC said he had ‘anger management problems’ but there was no evidence of ‘gratification or glee’ at harming Jacob.
Drummond had previous convictions for having drugs, holding a knife against his mother’s throat and assaulting an ex-girlfriend by pushing her against a wall.
This is a developing news story, more to follow soon… Check back shortly for further updates.
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