‘Sadistic’ drug addict guilty of murdering girlfriend’s 15-month-old son dubbed the child’s bedroom ‘the torture chamber’

17 March 2023, 18:09

A 'sadistic' drug addict who murdered a 15-month-old toddler joked with the boy's mother about torturing him, a court has heard.

Jake Drummond, 33 of Tunworth Crescent, Roehampton in south-west London, was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday of gross bodily harm with intent and the murder of Jacob Lennon

Jacob’s mother Louise Lennon, 32, of Ingrave Street, Battersea, was found guilty of neglect of a child and causing/allowing the death of a child.

Jacob had a heart attack on August 27, 2019, with ambulance workers called. He was taken to a hospital and died less than two hours later.

A post-mortem revealed he was killed by a brain injury inflicted only a few hours before he died. But he had other traumatic brain injuries, some of which he suffered days or weeks earlier. His skull was soft and spongy.

Jacob also had 20 injuries on his head, face and neck, seven on his legs and seven on his body, as well as severe injuries to his genitals. Lennon said to officers that Drummond told her that another child had inflicted these injuries using a toy plastic knife.

A police pathologist found a "gaping" 3cm cut to Jacob’s penis that was the result of "extreme pinching" or "biting", as well as a cut to his scrotum, in acts of violence labelled "sadistic" by the prosecutor Sally O'Neill.

Ms O'Neill told the court: ‘The injury to the scrotum was a penetrating injury as a result of penetration by a semi-sharp or sharp object such as a small-bladed weapon including a skewer or similar in preceding days."

The court also heard how Drummond shook and hit Jacob, bruising his face so badly that he "looked like a panda".

Drummond told Lennon he was going to put Jacob in "the torture chamber" - a reference to the little boy's bedroom. He also sent a meme from the film Happy Gilmore with the line "Now you will go to sleep or I will put you to sleep".

Social services had put Jacob under a child protection plan in 2018 because of emotional abuse. But the couple managed to skip a visit from social services in August 2019 by lying about a trip to Hastings.

The court heard how Drummond had become frustrated with Jacob sleeping in the same bed as him and Lennon, and struggled with insomnia because of his cocaine use. Jacob was found with traces of cocaine in his body.

Both Drummond and Lennon lied to cover up their involvement in Jacob's death, with Lennon claiming her son had fallen out of his cot.

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley said: “No one who has listened to the catalogue of injuries inflicted on Jacob Lennon can be anything but horrified. It is hard to comprehend how such a young and vulnerable baby could have been so abused. Drummond and Lennon sought to cover up their guilt by blaming accidents or feigning ignorance of how he was injured.

"However, a jury saw through their attempts to avoid the blame and found them both accountable for Jacob’s death.This case was very distressing and I would like to thank my team and all those who supported the prosecution for their professionalism and diligence.

"Everyone concerned has had to listen to some truly harrowing evidence, but we were determined to persevere and bring those responsible for Jacob’s death to justice.”

The couple will be sentenced on April 24.