A MONSTER who beat his lover's three-year-old son to death in their squalid home has been jailed for life.
Little Kemarni Watson died from severe abdominal injuries after suffering a "vicious forceful assault" and 20 rib fractures.
The youngster was cruelly abused by mum Alicia Watson, 30, and her then-boyfriend Nathanial Pope, 32, in his final months.
He was kept inside a cupboard locked up with electrical wire to stop him escaping and rubbish littered the filthy flat in West Bromwich.
Pope was today jailed for life with a minimum of 24 years after being convicted of murder.
Mum Watson was jailed for 11 years after she was found guilty of causing or allowing the child's death.
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The vile pair were also separately convicted of two further counts of child cruelty in relation to other children.
Mrs Justice Tipples told Pope: "The final assault involved multiple blows to his chest, limbs and abdomen from fists, kicking or with an object.
"This was a severe and sustained assault which will have caused extreme distress and pain and that would have been obvious to you.
"Abusing Kemarni was and became an accepted course of conduct in the flat.
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"Kemarni was not your son and he did not mean anything to you. You saw him as a nuisance who got in the way of your relationship."
The judge also slammed Watson for not stopping Pope while also "regularly beating him hard" with her hands.
Haunting footage released by police shows Watson taking Kemarni to McDonald's on the day he died.
The pair can be seen waiting hand-in-hand for their food at the counter before they leave the restaurant.
Kemarni and Watson are later seen strolling past a supermarket before they return home.
Just hours later, paramedics were raced to the family home on June 5, 2018, after the tot was found unresponsive.
In a harrowing 999 call, Watson told operators: "He’s three-years-old, he’s not responding."
Medics found a "plethora" of injuries that were consistent with being in a road collision or a fall from a height.
He had suffered "serious" wounds to his mesentery, a flap that provides blood to the small intestine, as well as injuries to his mesocolon, which provides blood to the large intestine.
Kemarni's liver was also injured and there was bruising to his right lung.
A pathologist said his injuries showed "high levels of force applied over relatively small area".
The youngster also had evidence of older wounds – including fractures to his ribs, bruising on his arm and a tear to the flap of skin which attaches the top lip to the gums.
Prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC said his injuries could be consistent with the "usual rough and tumble bruising on a child" but some injuries 'would have required stamping on his body".
VIOLENT ATTACK
The court was told Kemarni was beaten "really hard" by Watson if he threw his toys or urinated on the carpet.
Pope would also lock the child in a room and use snapped electrical cables to force the door shut.
Horrified witnesses told how little Kemarni would hammer on the door begging to be let out when he was locked away by Pope.
His mum would repeatedly slap him for apparently misbehaving.
One bystander said Kemarni was left feeling "really upset" after being attacked and just stay in his cot.
During the trial, Watson regularly accused lawyers of lying and branded the case against her as "disgustingly wrong".
She also told the jury she was mentally and physically exhausted and claimed she was "done" with giving evidence.
But jurors were not informed Pope had launched a sickening attack on a young mum on a London bus in 2011.
Details of the drug dealer's criminal past including the common assault conviction were revealed but details of the brutal assault was kept secret.
During the attack, Pope repeatedly smashed the victim's head into a handrail, dragged her off the bus by her hair and kicked her as she lay on the pavement.
He had flown into a rage as he felt the pram space on the bus had been "infringed" by the mum.
Pope also has previous convictions for burglary and possession of heroin with intent to supply.
Detective Inspector James Mahon, of West Midlands Police,said: "It's been a horrific case for everyone involved and I'd like to extend my thanks to the jury, who have engaged and considered everything put before them, they are ordinary members of the public who have had to listen to the details of this case for over 10 weeks.
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"Kemarni was so young and would not have been able to explain what was happening, or the pain that he was feeling to those that cared for him.
"It's absolutely awful that the two people who were supposed to look after him the most were those that caused injury, and in the end his death."
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