An ex-footballer carried out an attack on a two-year-old girl that was so severe it left her unable to sit, stand, or walk on her own and needing to be fed through a tube.
After attacking the girl, Kiernan Hughes-Mason, who once played for Millwall, attempted to lie to the emergency services, telling them that she had fallen on a dollhouse.
But the trial heard from one doctor who said the girl’s injuries were so severe they could be compared to a “high-speed road traffic accident” or a “fall from a substantial height of several storeys”.
When police later looked through the 32-year-old’s phone, they found he had sent multiple messages to people in the days leading up to the attack, stating: “I’m gonna hit her”.
On Tuesday, Hughes-Mason, was jailed for 14 years. Following the sentencing, the girl’s family described him as a “violent coward”.
The trial heard that Hughes-Mason called paramedics and claimed he had found the girl, who he was caring for at the time, conscious but unresponsive at a property in Westcliff-on-Sea in Essex on 31 January 2020.
The former footballer, who played for Millwall between 2009 and 2011, told emergency services he heard a loud bang from the girl’s bedroom and believed she had fallen.
The ambulance service arrived within nine minutes of the call and rushed the girl to Southend General Hospital.
Such were the severity, of her injuries, she was placed in an induced coma and taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital for further treatment.
Medics found 17 different injuries to her face, chest, back and legs, which are believed to have been sustained between October 2019 and January 2020.
The toddler remained in a coma for 14 days and suffered life-changing brain injuries.
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The prosecution said that “experts all agree that the pattern of injuries found is consistent with a child having been vigorously shaken… with her head being hit against a hard surface”.
The girl’s family described after the trial how her brain damage has impacted her ability to communicate, which means she needs to be fed through a tube.
Hughes-Mason, who was 28 at the time of the attack, was arrested on 14 February 2020.
He was released on bail while police officers collected more than a dozen statements and reports from eight medical practitioners and experts while building this case, as well as seizing Hughes-Mason’s phone and analysing the messages he sent.
In the days leading up to the attack, Hughes-Mason sent multiple messages to others stating “she’s actually getting on my nerves” and “I’m gonna hit her”.
He was eventually charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent and child cruelty in November 2022.
The former footballer denied the charges against him but was found guilty in August this year following a trial at Basildon Crown Court.
A ‘violent coward’
Speaking after Hughes-Mason was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Tuesday, the girl’s family said she had been left with “significant physical and mental disabilities that will impact her for the rest of her life”.
The family statement continued: “She cannot sit, stand or walk independently, requiring a hoist to move her.
“As a result of her injuries, she suffers with constant pain that needs to be managed daily.
“The brain damage caused has affected her communication, she cannot even tell us where her pain is or what upsets her.
“She is now epileptic, suffers with sleep disorders, struggles to eat and cannot drink – she is tube-fed for all her hydration and nutritional needs.”
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The family added that they “mourn all the experiences we would have shared with her”.
Referring to Hughes-Mason as a “violent coward”, the statement continues: “We are thankful that today some form of justice has been achieved, however, this sentence does not compare to the life sentence our little girl now has.”
Detective Sergeant Ellie Nudd, from Essex Police’s child abuse investigation team, said after sentencing: “Hughes-Mason lied to 999 call handlers, paramedics, police officers and hospital staff on the day of the incident, immediately trying to cover up his attack. He can only be described as a coward.
“Most of all our thoughts are with an immensely brave girl and her family who have worked with us to make sure justice was done. Our county is a safer place now that Hughes-Mason is behind bars.”
Hughes-Mason started out his career at Championship side Millwall, before playing for several English Football League and non-league clubs including Welling United, Leatherhead and more recently managing Enfield Borough.
Enfield Borough said they had fired Mason-Hughes as manager “in light of recent revelations regarding serious legal matters from [his] past, which were not disclosed during the hiring process”.
