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Bizarre WhatsApp voice notes sent by a killer stepfather have been released after he was found guilty of murdering his baby stepson.
10-month-old Jacob Crouch was found dead in his cot at his home in Derbyshire on December 30, 2020.
He’d suffered 39 rib fractures and several internal injuries following a ‘vicious’ assault by his stepfather Craig Crouch, 39.
Crouch was found guilty of murder and three counts of child cruelty following a trial on Wednesday.
Following his conviction, bizarre voice notes sent to Crouch’s partner and Jacob’s mother, Gemma Barton, have been released in which he ranted about the importance of hierarchy in a household.
Crouch can be heard explaining his views about how ‘there is always a hierarchy’, including within the family, before pivoting to a lighter tone to sign off, the Independent reports.
In the recording, released by Derbyshire Police, he said: ‘As human beings, we tend to follow a hierarchy.
‘What this means is there always has to be a leader, in everything that we do.
Craig Crouch has been found guilty of murder (Picture: PA)
Jacob was just 10 months old when he was killed (Picture: PA)
Gemma Barton was cleared of murder (Picture: PA)
‘Look at workplace business. You would never have two managers, or two directors, or two team leaders over the same amount of people, over the same department, earning the same money.
‘You just wouldn’t have it, you have a chain of command.
‘For example, there is nobody here in exactly the same job that I have over the same people, over the same departments. I answer for everyone, everyone below me answers to me.
‘If they f*** up, I get my a*** kicked, and then it goes down the chain of command.
‘This also has to stand at home – there is always a hierarchy.
‘Anyway, I should be finished soon, and I love you to bits. I can’t wait to see you [kiss noises].’
Jacob suffered 39 rib fractures (Picture: PA)
Crouch’s arrest was captured on body work video (Picture: Derbyshire Police)
Baby Jacob died at his home following a ‘vicious assault’ which saw him ‘kicked or stamped on with such severe force that it fractured a rib and caused a tear in his stomach and bowel’.
The 10-month-old suffered regular abuse, including being forced to eat his own vomit.
Following the convictions, Andrew Baxter, deputy chief crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service East Midlands, said: ‘Jacob’s short life was one of pain and suffering, all the result of these defendants’ intolerance of his basic needs and Craig Crouch’s inexplicable desire for discipline.’
Barton, 33, was found not guilty of murder, an alternative charge of manslaughter, and two counts of cruelty, but was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and a third count of child cruelty.
Barton, of Ray Street, Heanor, Derbyshire, and Crouch, of Donisthorpe Lane, Moira, Swadlincote, will be sentenced on Friday.
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Baby Jacob died at his home following a ‘vicious assault’ which saw him ‘kicked or stamped on with such severe force that it fractured a rib and caused a tear in his stomach and bowel’.