A man and woman who murdered a toddler in a “wicked and torturous attack” will be sentenced in front of TV crews today.

Sian Hedges and her former boyfriend Jack Benham will learn their fate on camera in what will be a first for any court in Kent.

The cruel pair were convicted in November of brutally killing Hedges’ 18-month-old son, Alfie Phillips, in Hernhill, near Faversham.

Cameras will be at Maidstone Crown Court to record the proceedings, but only the judge will be filmed to protect the privacy of witnesses and jurors.

It will be the first time cameras have been in a Kent court since a law was passed permitting such filming in 2020, with the footage set to be broadcast after the hearing by KentOnline.

Hedges, 27, and Benham, 35, will receive mandatory life sentences, with the judge, Justice Cavanagh, determining the minimum term they will serve behind bars.

Throughout a harrowing 35-day trial, the pair pointed the finger at each other, with both denying any involvement in hurting Alfie in Benham’s caravan in November 2021.

But a jury saw through their lies and returned two guilty verdicts.

They had been told how Alfie had 70 visible injuries and multiple broken bones at the time of his death.

Traces of cocaine were also found in his body, indicating he had been recently exposed to the Class A drug, which his mum and Benham admitted taking in the hours before he died.

The youngster had been taken back to the caravan at 7pm on Friday, November 27, and was not seen again by anyone other than Benham and Hedges until about 11.30am the following morning.

It was during these hours Alfie was brutally murdered by the pair.

The court was told that shortly before 11.30am on the Saturday Benham came to the main house with Alfie in his arms. The toddler was described as “blue and floppy” and was not breathing.

Benham’s mother, Joan Benham, started performing CPR in the living room and his father, Mark Benham, called 999.

Ambulance crews arrived within 10 minutes but it was immediately apparent to them Alfie had been “dead for some time”, said the prosecutor.

Benham came into the living room and told paramedics when they woke Alfie was trapped under his legs and they could not wake him.

In reality, the little boy had been subjected to a sustained attack that caused his death.

He was taken to the QEQM Hospital in Margate, and pronounced dead at 12.35pm.

The trial was told how Benham was heard at the hospital to have said “what have I done?” when told Alfie had died.

A skeletal survey and post-mortem examinations revealed the toddler had multiple fractures to both of his arms, his ribs and one leg, as well as widespread bruising, marks and scrapes across his body.

Tests indicated many of the breaks to his bones would have occurred in the hours before Alfie’s death.