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Archie Spriggs: Custody battle mum jailed after son died Archie Spriggs: Custody battle mum jailed for son's murder
(35 minutes later)
A woman who used a cushion and scarf to strangle and smother her seven-year-old son on the day of a custody hearing has been jailed for at least 18 years.A woman who used a cushion and scarf to strangle and smother her seven-year-old son on the day of a custody hearing has been jailed for at least 18 years.
Lesley Speed, 44, was found with cuts to her neck after killing Archie Spriggs, from Shropshire, during a bitter custody battle.Lesley Speed, 44, was found with cuts to her neck after killing Archie Spriggs, from Shropshire, during a bitter custody battle.
The boy died at his home in Rushbury, near Church Stretton, on 21 September.The boy died at his home in Rushbury, near Church Stretton, on 21 September.
Speed, who was convicted of murder, had been "stressing out" about a hearing, Birmingham Crown Court was told. Speed, who was convicted of murder, had been "stressing out" about the hearing, Birmingham Crown Court was told.
She killed Archie during the custody battle with her ex-partner who is Archie's father, the court heard. The trial heard she had been in dispute with her ex-partner Matthew Spriggs, who is Archie's father, about their son's future.
Speed claimed she found her son hanging from his scarf in his bedroom. Jurors heard how Speed was found with cuts to her neck and wrists in a bathroom, having killed Archie in his bedroom.
Her partner Darren Jones, who discovered the youngster on his bunk and his girlfriend lying wounded in the bathroom, said Speed had told him she smothered the boy. The judge accepted she had tried to take her own life after the murder, having left a "chilling" note for Mr Spriggs.
Speed denied murder and claimed she had found her son hanging from his scarf in his bedroom.
Her partner Darren Jones, who discovered Archie on his bunk and his girlfriend lying wounded in the bathroom, said Speed had told him she smothered her child.
'Denied support'
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Nicol accepted Speed had a "longstanding and chronic" history of mental illness but told her: "You may have believed that it would be harmful for him to live with his father.
"That's as may be but, even if your belief on that score was genuine, it cannot begin to excuse your action."
Archie's father claimed the authorities dismissed his concerns and missed opportunities to prevent his son's death.
Mr Spriggs said those tasked with protecting his child favoured his ex-partner because she was a woman.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, he said: "There is something wrong with a system which allows one parent to dismiss legal proceedings without consequence and an even bigger problem when, despite laws on equality, the assumption is that a mother must be 'good' and a father 'bad'.
"I did all I could to protect my son but was denied the support I needed to do so.
"One person committed this heinous act against an innocent little boy but others were also complicit. Archie's death could have been avoided. He should be with me now."
Defence counsel Rachel Brand QC submitted Speed had suffered from a depressive illness for several years, which led to a "distorted and negative" pattern of thinking.