Paedophile who ignored lover’s torture of son is jailed

Paul Husband, 33, stood by as two-month-old Rhys constantly wailed in excruciating pain from injuries caused by his crack addict mother.

Husband called for help only once before Rhys died in May 2006 with 13 fractured ribs, a broken shoulder and wrist.

In an echo of the Baby P tragedy, Rhys's mother, 27-year-old Claire Biggs, escaped the attention of social workers, who also failed to check Husband's criminal record and were unaware he had been convicted in Scotland of assaulting his then-lover's child.

Husband was jailed at Inner London crown court for two years and three months for wilful neglect.

He wept as Judge Lindsay Burn QC told him: "You failed to get Rhys medical help when it was obvious that such help was required.

"Rhys was a tiny baby and his distress must have been considerable. He was vulnerable and you were acting in a position of trust as his father."

Husband, who was also disqualified from working with children for five years, lived with Biggs in a Plaistow flat. Biggs was convicted of child cruelty in February and jailed for eight years.