Thug who battered his girlfriend's five-year-old son to death for losing a shoe is jailed for life as boy's real father reveals 'I was told there was a better man in his life'
Thug who battered his girlfriend's five-year-old son to death for losing a shoe is jailed for life as boy's real father reveals 'I was told there was a better man in his life'
A thug who battered his girlfriend's five-year-old son to death in a park for losing a trainer has been jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 18 years.
Marvyn Iheanacho, 39, flew into a rage and subjected his girlfriend's son Alex Malcolm to a brutal attack in Mountsfield Park in Catford, south-east London.
Iheanacho battered the little boy with such savagery that witnesses who overheard eight 'booming' blows initially thought two grown men were fighting. They heard the child begging for mercy, sobbing, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'
Instead of taking the dying boy to hospital only a five-minute walk away, Iheanacho carried him through the street before taking a cab to mother Lilya Breha's home in Bromley, south-east London, where he attacked her, throttling her as she tried to call 999.
When Miss Breha managed to raise the alarm two hours later, doctors were unable to save the youngster, who had 22 bruises from head to toe. He died two days later following a bleed to the brain.
In a statement read to the court Leroy Malcolm, Alex's father, said it was 'impossible' for him to put his reaction to the murder into words.
He added he had been denied access to Alex because he was told 'there was a better man in his life'.
Judge Mark Dennis QC said the child killer has a 'deeply entrenched character flaw' that leads him to overreact and lose his temper.
He added Iheanacho's first instincts following the attack were to 'protect himself' rather than help the boy and that it was 'only a matter of time' before a 'tragedy' occurred.
Iheanacho was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court, where he was earlier convicted of the child's murder.
Judge Dennis said the jury had rejected Iheanacho's defence that the injuries to Alex were accidental.
He said: 'Those injuries were caused by a fit of anger...it was a sudden and wholly unnecessary loss of temper which started outside the park gateway by a builders yard.
'On this occasion when the violence had subsided and you realised what you had done to the child, your thoughts turned not to helping, but to protecting yourself trying to cover up what had just happened.
'This time the consequences were more serious than ever before. You used your undoubted strength and simple brute force against the child, and you used your hands rather than kicking him.
'You were a strong an overpowering figure. He was completely defenceless. The child had done nothing to justify any loss of temper let along a violent loss of temper.
'All the child was heard to say was in a soft voice 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry'.
The judge said Iheanacho's previous convictions 'reflect a disturbing pattern of violent behaviour', adding: 'It was perhaps a matter of time before such violence ended in a tragedy like this.'
In a statement read to the court Leroy Malcolm said: 'The murder of my beautiful son is impossible to put into words. It's hard for any parent to deal the death of their child.'
He added: 'That he will never get the chance to grow and get to know his older brothers is devastating. I love Alex with all my heart and miss him deeply.'
His mother also spoke of the tragic loss of her only child in a statement read to the court.
Miss Breha said: 'He was beautiful, shy loving and caring. He was the first person I truly loved.
'Every single day I cry, thinking about him, I ask God to take me too, or not to wake up from my sleep so I can hear his voice again.
A thug who battered his girlfriend's five-year-old son to death in a park for losing a trainer has been jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 18 years.
Marvyn Iheanacho, 39, flew into a rage and subjected his girlfriend's son Alex Malcolm to a brutal attack in Mountsfield Park in Catford, south-east London.
Iheanacho battered the little boy with such savagery that witnesses who overheard eight 'booming' blows initially thought two grown men were fighting. They heard the child begging for mercy, sobbing, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'
Instead of taking the dying boy to hospital only a five-minute walk away, Iheanacho carried him through the street before taking a cab to mother Lilya Breha's home in Bromley, south-east London, where he attacked her, throttling her as she tried to call 999.
When Miss Breha managed to raise the alarm two hours later, doctors were unable to save the youngster, who had 22 bruises from head to toe. He died two days later following a bleed to the brain.
In a statement read to the court Leroy Malcolm, Alex's father, said it was 'impossible' for him to put his reaction to the murder into words.
He added he had been denied access to Alex because he was told 'there was a better man in his life'.
Judge Mark Dennis QC said the child killer has a 'deeply entrenched character flaw' that leads him to overreact and lose his temper.
He added Iheanacho's first instincts following the attack were to 'protect himself' rather than help the boy and that it was 'only a matter of time' before a 'tragedy' occurred.
Iheanacho was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court, where he was earlier convicted of the child's murder.
Judge Dennis said the jury had rejected Iheanacho's defence that the injuries to Alex were accidental.
He said: 'Those injuries were caused by a fit of anger...it was a sudden and wholly unnecessary loss of temper which started outside the park gateway by a builders yard.
'On this occasion when the violence had subsided and you realised what you had done to the child, your thoughts turned not to helping, but to protecting yourself trying to cover up what had just happened.
'This time the consequences were more serious than ever before. You used your undoubted strength and simple brute force against the child, and you used your hands rather than kicking him.
'You were a strong an overpowering figure. He was completely defenceless. The child had done nothing to justify any loss of temper let along a violent loss of temper.
'All the child was heard to say was in a soft voice 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry'.
The judge said Iheanacho's previous convictions 'reflect a disturbing pattern of violent behaviour', adding: 'It was perhaps a matter of time before such violence ended in a tragedy like this.'
In a statement read to the court Leroy Malcolm said: 'The murder of my beautiful son is impossible to put into words. It's hard for any parent to deal the death of their child.'
He added: 'That he will never get the chance to grow and get to know his older brothers is devastating. I love Alex with all my heart and miss him deeply.'
His mother also spoke of the tragic loss of her only child in a statement read to the court.
Miss Breha said: 'He was beautiful, shy loving and caring. He was the first person I truly loved.
'Every single day I cry, thinking about him, I ask God to take me too, or not to wake up from my sleep so I can hear his voice again.
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