A mother and her former partner have been sentenced for their roles in the death of a four-year-old boy, who died two years after being seriously injured.

Zoe Coutts, 35, and Scott O'Connor, 36, were prosecuted by the dedicated London Homicide Unit in the Crown Prosecution Service following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service.

Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, O'Connor was found guilty of manslaughter and Coutts was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child. 

O'Connor was today given an extended determinate sentence of 23 years, with 18 years imprisonment and a five-year extended licence period. 

Coutts was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. 

Kol Page was four years old when he died in hospital on 29 June 2024. His death was caused by injuries inflicted when he was just two years old.

On 25 April 2022, an ambulance was called to an address in Bromley after Kol went into cardiac arrest. During emergency surgery, doctors found serious internal injuries and bleeding caused by significant injuries to his abdomen. Expert evidence concluded these were consistent with punching, kicking, or stamping. Kol never fully recovered and was left with life-changing injuries and brain damage.

Richard Murrison, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Kol was a little boy who deserved to be safe, loved, and protected. That 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.

"Scott O'Connor subjected Kol to 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. We were determined to use the full force of the law to hold them to account, even years after the injuries that killed him had been inflicted. Both will now spend a significant period of time behind bars for their actions.

"From the outset, Kol remained at the heart of this prosecution. When the first trial was halted, we appealed that ruling and succeeded in securing a retrial, remaining committed to achieving justice for him.

"Securing these convictions has required years of dedicated work by our prosecution team, trial counsel, and the Metropolitan Police. We are grateful for that collaboration, and we hope today's outcome brings some measure of comfort to all those who loved Kol."

Building the case

The prosecution carefully reviewed and pieced together witness accounts, medical evidence, phone data, and cell-site evidence to build a case that showed the jury the individual roles of each defendant in Kol's death.

In the month leading up to the fatal injuries, Kol suffered bruising of escalating severity on his face and body. People close to the family noticed, and Kol was photographed with bruising, black eyes, and hair loss. Coutts told family the injuries had been caused accidentally by Kol himself.

On the morning of 25 April 2022, O'Connor left the house to go to work, leaving Coutts at home with Kol. WhatsApp messages from that morning showed both were aware Kol was unwell.

A 999 call was made after Coutts, in a 45-second call to a friend, said Kol was not breathing, to which her friend replied: "Why are you talking to me, call an ambulance."

When paramedics arrived, Coutts claimed Kol had fallen from a highchair but changed her account on the arrival of police.

Although only an indicative timeframe, expert medical evidence was that the fatal blow(s) were likely to have occurred between around 3.30am and8.30am on the morning of 25 April 2022.  Both defendants were present for most of that period until around 8.11am, when O’Connor left the property for work.  The Ambulance Service arrived by 9.45am by which time Kol had already collapsed.   

Experts determined that the injuries to Kol's abdomen were caused by one or more blows with a force more consistent with a major road traffic accident or a fall from a first or second storey. They could not have been caused by an accident at home resulting from Kol's 'clumsiness', as initially claimed by both defendants.

The CPS charged Coutts and O'Connor in 2022 and a trial at Woolwich Crown Court began in February 2024. During that trial, the judge ruled there was no case to answer on some charges, stopping proceedings. The prosecution appealed, and in July 2024 the Court of Appeal overturned that ruling, finding those charges could and should have been left to a jury, and ordered a new trial.

Kol sadly passed away in June 2024 during the Court of Appeal proceedings. The case was reviewed and a new trial was set at Southwark Crown Court, where both defendants were found guilty.