The three-year-old boy suffered 'car crash-like' injuries on the day he died in 2018

Get the latest Black Country news straight to your inbox

Their fate was sealed by jurors after hearing months of harrowing evidence of how a helpless toddler was subjected to a cruel campaign of abuse. Now mum Alicia Watson and her ex-lover Nathaniel Pope face long stretches behind bars for the tragic death of Kemarni Watson Darby.

The three-year-old suffered 'sustained' beatings at the hands of killer drug user Pope. One beating at the family's Black Country flat was so severe, it left him bleeding internally and ultimately killed him in 2018.

Both Watson and Pope stood trial for the boy’s murder, blaming each other for the tot’s death when they took to the witness box. Family and friends also gave evidence at Birmingham Crown Court, revealing their devastation to jurors.

READ MORE: Kemarni Watson Darby: 'No safeguarding concerns identified' after tot's murder

They recalled noticing bruising to Kemarni's body in the weeks leading up to his murder but marks were blamed on 'fighting' with other children. Jurors convicted Pope of murdering the boy, while mum Watson was cleared of the charge.

She was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, with both defendants found guilty of multiple counts of child cruelty. The pair will be sentenced for their cruel crimes on May 23.

Here we have pulled together the key evidence in the trial.

'She hurt him by beating him' - what family members said

Kemarni’s dad Darren Darby spent days in the witness box as he gave evidence in the trial. He told jurors he was aware Kemarni was being slapped, punched and kicked by his 'strict' mother, who would beat her son 'when she lost her temper'.

The father revealed he had even become 'worried' after seeing bruises on his son but said Watson 'never used to listen' when he challenged her. Kemarni was 'very active, really boisterous, always running around and playing games', he recalled.

But Watson 'could not handle him' and 'hurt him by beating him', he said. The dad also revealed family members knew killer Watson was striking the tot with an 'almost full fist' before he died.

He had been staying at her West Bromwich flat in Beaconview Road when he claimed he saw her subjecting her young son to 'very regular' beatings. About a month before Kemarni died, Mr Darby also spotted a lump on his head and a cut to his lip.

When he asked Watson about this, he described how she had told him the three-year-old 'walked into a door'. Bereaved Mr Darby went on to say Kemarni was let down by his entire family.

Giving evidence, he said: "Everybody did know that she was beating Kemarni. Her parents knew, everyone knew. We all let him down."

Heartbroken aunt Venecia Callum broke down in the witness box after recalling how she spotted the 'bouncy baby boy' with cuts, scratches, bruising and scars 'all over' his body just a month before he died. She had been looking after the three-year-old on May 12, 2018, when she noticed a lump on his head - which the youngster claimed was caused by Pope.

Kemarni was left with a 'plethora' of injuries, which included multiple fractures to his rib cage, as well as wounds to his liver and colon. Bruising was uncovered on his lungs, head, mouth, neck, arms, chest, abdomen, back and legs.

The 'catalogue' of injuries also included scars to the eyes, cheeks, knees and limbs. Fractures would have been caused by 'significant chest compressions or blunt force', Mr Badenoch said.

Mr Badenoch said: "There were extremely severe abdominal injuries consistent with a fall from height or road traffic collision. In this case, Kemarni did not fall from height, neither was he a victim of a road traffic accident.

"He was subjected to a brutal assault of comparable force." The 'normal' boy’s extensive injuries could not be blamed on the 'usual rough and tumble bruising on a child', prosecutors said.

Forensic pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar said some of the injuries were caused 'up to four weeks prior to his death'. The 'most significant' injuries were to the child's abdomen, right arm and to the lower part of his face near his mouth.

Bruising at the top of Kemarni's scalp was 'quite unusual' as it would be difficult to fall on that part of the head accidentally, he said. There was also fresh bruising which was not 'many days old' as well as 'clear evidence of older internal injuries' to the tot's abdomen.

Signs of injuries consistent with gripping were also discovered on the boy's abdomen and arm. Kemarni suffered 'widespread injuries' and also had blood in both of his lungs which would have been a 'consequence of trauma'.

A medical cause of death was given of abdominal injuries.

The 'vicious forceful assault' before he died

Prosecutors said Kemarni suffered injuries before he died which would have been so severe he would have struggled to climb stairs or even walk. They told how he was subjected to a 'vicious forceful assault', splitting his abdomen and causing a 'massive' internal bleed which killed him.

His body would not have been able to 'compensate for' the huge bleed inside his body before he died. It was this damage to Kemarni’s mesentery - a part of the body supplying the small intestine with blood - which 'ultimately killed him'.

Mr Badenoch said: "It was a brutal act perpetrated on a wholly defenceless three-year-old. The degree of force required to cause these injuries would have resulted in extreme pain and fear.

"Throughout the assault, Kemarni would have been extremely distressed and fearful. Kemarni would not have been capable of walking normally or climbing stairs without showing distress.

"Any adult caring for Kemarni would have been aware of it." The 'significant damage' to Kemarni’s body left him with a gaping 'hole' measuring 8.5cm by 4.5cm to the boy's mesentery.

Forensic pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar said: "There was little, if any, normal mesentery left in this child. I could see blood vessels I shouldn't have been able to see." Dr Peter Sidebotham, professor of child health at Warwick Medical School, also told the court Kemarni’s injuries would have left him 'extremely distressed lying and writhing in pain'.

He said: "I think any adult carer would be aware that the child was not right, was in some pain and distress. In the absence of a report of any fall or a road traffic collision, the only possible cause I can come to is that these injuries were the result of an assault on Kemarni.

"This has been a severe and sustained assault by an adult on Kemarni."

Kermani 'never laughed' at nursery

Jurors were told Kemarni was seen to have 'some behavioural issues' at nursery, with one member of staff revealing he had called her a 'f****** b****'. He was spotted arriving twice at nursery with a split lip but staff were told the injuries were caused by 'clumsy play'.

Nursery manager Samantha Evans sobbed as she recalled Kemarni barely laughed and 'unusually' never cried during his twice-weekly sessions at Walsall’s Catherine House nursery. The boy struggled to interact with other children and could not even string sentences together, speaking only two or three words at a time, she claimed.

He would also 'scratch' other children on the face and push them - although these incidents were not a 'major concern' for staff, the witness said. Giving evidence, she said: "He did not really laugh and I never saw him cry. He did smile."

She found it 'unusual' the toddler did not cry like other children if he hurt himself.

Stomach bug diagnosed on day of death

Kemarni was diagnosed with just a stomach bug hours before he died, it was heard. Watson had decided to take her son to Parsonage Street walk-in centre, in West Bromwich, and he was rushed in for assessment after he vomited while they waited.

Nurse Patricia Gallimore said she spotted 'nothing out of the ordinary' after examining the three-year-old and prescribed him medication for dehydration, believing he was battling a viral bug. But hours later, the toddler was discovered 'lifeless’ at his West Bromwich home.

Watson had told the nurse Kemarni had been unwell with 'diarrhoea and vomiting for a few days'. Ms Gallimore claimed Kemarni had a normal temperature, no marks on his face and appeared 'comfortable' with his mother.

She admitted she could not be '100 per cent' sure Kemarni was not battling internal injury at the time and said she did not carry out a full head-to-toe inspection.

'Electrical cables used to trap' toddler in flat

Pictures of the dirty, cramped flat where Kemarni lived were shown to the jury. Pope used snapped electrical cables to force the door to one room shut, locking the tot inside.

The murder trial heard how the killer would trap Kemarni in a room until the child 'calmed down'. He would use an electrical wire snapped in half to stop the door from opening as Kemarni banged on it to be let out.

A witness - who cannot be named for legal reasons - said in an interview played to jurors: "Pope used to get the wire and turn it around the door handle. It was like some electrical wire that was snapped off. He would wrap it around the door handle.

"Kemarni would just bang on the door and try and get out. [Pope] would just do nothing."

The chaotic living conditions included messy, unkept rooms which featured rubbish scattered on the floor and clothes piled on a bed.

'Lies told by the child killer on the stand

Both Watson and Pope gave evidence during the course of the murder trial. Pope told jurors he had been 'wrongly accused' of murdering young Kemarni and claimed there was nothing he could have done to 'save' the boy.

He denied he 'lost it' and beat the youngster to 'shut him up' in the family's home on the day of Kemarni's death. Watson said she loved her son and insisted she never harmed the toddler or inflicted any 'horrific' injuries upon him.

Instead, she branded Pope a 'cold-hearted liar' and said he fatally injured the tot when she left the pair together at her Black Country flat. Watson, 30, of Radnor Road, Handsworth, and Pope, 32, of Evans Street, Wolverhampton, both denied all charges they faced.

They were both convicted of multiple child cruelty counts on Tuesday (April 12). Pope now faces life behind bars after jurors found him guilty of murder.

Watson was acquitted of murder but faces jail-time after a jury convicted her of causing or allowing the death of a child. They will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on May 23.

Stay abreast with the very latest from the region with our Black Country Email Updates.