ADRIAN JONES AND NICOLA SAUNDERS: DRUG-RELATED CHILD MURDER IN WOLVERHAMPTON

In January 2003, Adrian Jones, a heroin addict from Wolverhampton, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his girlfriend Nicola Saunders's three-year-old daughter, Terri Saunders. Jones waited until Nicola Saunders was away working as a prostitute before he subjected the young girl to brutal abuse, ultimately leading to her death.

During a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, it was revealed that Terri had suffered over 100 injuries across her body, including significant internal damage. Mr. Justice Astill sentenced Jones to life with a minimum term of 23 years, stating: "It is a story of cruelty and depravity and hardly recognisable of human behaviour. I think it is important that the public understand what a life sentence entails."

Nicola Saunders received a three-year prison sentence after admitting to child neglect. Evidence showed Terri had more than 100 bruises, along with injuries such as a broken collarbone, torn abdomen, cuts and bruises on her face, neck, and head, and burns on her hands and head.

Five weeks prior to her death, Terri was examined by doctors and social services, who accepted Saunders’s explanations and sent her home. Mr. Justice Astill criticised Saunders for turning a "blind eye" to her daughter's suffering, remarking, "Your priority in life was to get the next heroin fix."

On the night of her death, Terri, who had endured extensive abuse, asked her mother to stay in and not leave her alone with the man who ultimately killed her. The post-mortem revealed that Terri died from a brain haemorrhage, with additional evidence pointing to abdominal injuries consistent with a beating.