Boy, 5, ‘was beaten to death by Mum’s boyfriend because he lost his shoe’

A ‘raging’ stepfather beat a five-year-old boy to death as he flew into a rage when the boy said ‘sorry’ for losing one of his trainers, a court heard.

Alex Malcolm suffered fatal head injuries in the alleged attack by Marvyn Iheanacho, 39 – who was looking after his girlfriend’s five-year-old son in a park in south London.

An eyewitness described how they heard the child saying ‘sorry’ to Iheanacho in the park – then a series of ‘booming noises’ as he punched the child up to eight times, a court heard.

Prosecutors say that Iheanacho lost his temper with child model Alex – the son of his girlfriend Lilya Breha, and violently assaulted him in Mountsfield Park in Catford, south-east London.

‘The prosecution say that he died at the hands of this defendant, a man who was looking after him, acting as his stepfather… violently assaulted the boy, causing him fatal head and stomach injures,’ said prosecutor Eleanor Laws QC.

‘The defendant is a man who has ever since, we say, done his best to avoid being held
accountable for those injuries.’

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CCTV captured Iheanacho taking Alex from his home, on three separate buses, to the park, where they arrived at around 5.12pm, when it was already dark.

Ms Laws told jurors there are no witnesses or CCTV footage of ‘the defendant landing blows on Alex’, but continued: ‘There is, however, clear evidence as to the fact the defendant lost his temper with Alex before he sustained his injuries.’

She said prosecutors know the pair went to the play area because Alex lost one of his trainers, which was later found there by police.

Describing an incident at about 6pm, she added: ‘The defendant was heard shouting loudly at Alex after finding out that Alex had lost his shoe.’

One witness, Sarah Strugnell, saw Iheanacho bend down to the child and ask where his shoes were, the court heard.

‘The man was very angry indeed and Sarah Strugnell describes how he was raging at the child who was very quiet,’ said the prosecutor.

‘Her partner recalls hearing the loud banging and a male voice screaming about the loss of shoes and a child’s fearful voice saying ‘sorry’.’

The prosecutor added: ‘He describes the banging continuing. He shouted to his dogs which appeared to bring the male’s shouting to an end.

‘It is the prosecution case that this banging could well have been in fact banging from repeated assaults upon Alex.