NICHOLAS HALLING SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON IN DUNSTABLE FOR MURDER OF TODDLER

In April 2006, Nicholas Halling, a 36-year-old unemployed man from Dunstable, Beds, was sentenced to life imprisonment after a jury at Luton Crown Court found him guilty of murdering three-year-old Deraye Lewis and assaulting the child’s mother, Donna Humphrey.

Mr. Justice Hughes stated that Halling had shown 'habitual contempt' towards Deraye, who was of mixed race, and had called him racially charged names. The judge ordered that Halling serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars.

The court heard that Deraye, who resided in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, with his mother, sustained fatal injuries on New Year's Eve 2004. He was taken to Milton Keynes Hospital, where medical experts discovered a serious internal injury and 73 separate injuries on his body. Deraye died in hospital on New Year’s Day.

Prosecutor Timothy Raggatt QC emphasized that Halling had exhibited 'wholly inappropriate racial animosity towards the little boy.' Raggatt added, 'He was a child who was the subject of considerable violence, sustained at times, and over a period of time. Donna was a woman who became dominated by him and did as she was bidden.'

In addition to the murder conviction, Halling received a concurrent 18-month sentence for causing actual bodily harm. At the time of the attack, Halling was under the supervision of a probation officer and had prior convictions dating back to when he was 11 years old.

Deraye Lewis, a young boy of three, lived with his mother and her boyfriend, Nicholas Halling, in Dunstable and Milton Keynes. Tragically, Deraye endured racial abuse, frequent beatings, and cigarette burns inflicted by Halling, who displayed racist hostility towards him.

On New Year’s Eve 2004, Donna Humphrey, also of Black ethnicity, contacted police regarding an assault allegation against Halling (which she later withdrew). When officers arrived, they observed that Deraye had been crying but saw no immediate injuries and thus left, unaware of the prior abuse.

Throughout that day, neighbors heard Halling shout, 'That f****** baby is spoiling my life! We can’t do anything without him spoiling things!' Early on New Year’s Day, Donna awoke to find Deraye dying in bed beside her.

Deraye was transported to Milton Keynes Hospital but succumbed later that day. The toll on his tiny body was severe—more than 73 injuries, including a ruptured bowel, perforated eardrum, bruised brain, and cigarette burns. The court detailed that he had suffered a blow to the abdomen, which caused a rupture in his duodenum, leading to blood poisoning.

Hallings's racist abuse extended to calling Deraye a 'Black ba***rd' and writing 'n**ger' on him with a felt pen, which Deraye was forced to repeat.

Social workers in Bedfordshire were alerted about Halling’s abuse of Deraye six months prior to his death. However, the investigation revealed several failures: social services did not recognize Halling’s racist attacks, which included cigarette burns and racist language; they believed cover-up stories from Donna, despite her showing signs of assault from Halling—she was reported to have been 'black and blue' from his violence. Three months before Deraye’s death, Donna finally admitted Halling was beating her and escaped to Milton Keynes.

The second mistake was that Bedfordshire social services failed to pass critical information about Donna and Deraye’s move to Milton Keynes, despite her emergency housing application stating she was fleeing domestic violence.

The third failure occurred when Milton Keynes housing officials did not notify social services about relocating the vulnerable mother and child to Osborne Street in Bletchley, which allowed Halling to rekindle his relationship with Donna unnoticed.

Halling, who was under probation supervision and had convictions from age 11, was sentenced in April 2006 to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of twenty years.