Social worker saw Finley Boden mum’s in drug deal two days before he died

The comment came as the worker described seeing 10-month-old Finley Boden’s mother Shannon Marsden “conduct a drug deal” outside her Old Whittington home.

Derby Crown Court heard the worker visited the couple on December 23, 2020, in the hope of seeing Finley before Christmas – however the baby died two days later.

The infant suffered “significant, substantial and repeated acts of severe violence” at the hands of his cannabis-addicted parents, said Mary Prior KC, prosecuting.

Boden, 29, and Marsden, 21, both deny murder, cruelty to a person under 16 and causing or allowing the death of a child.

During the December 23 visit Boden came to the door, telling the worker the baby had “not been very well” and was upstairs asleep.

Heavy cannabis smoker Boden then closed the door, returning to say he was unable to bring bring the child to the door as he was asleep.

While outside the worker saw Marsden “100 yards” away on the same road as a car pulled up and she saw an exchange that “looked like a drug deal”.

The court heard the worker had not seen Finley for a month since her last visit on November 27 – despite numerous attempts to see the child at his parents’ home.

She confirmed that November 27 – when Finley was seen asleep on the couple’s sofa as they “listened to music” upstairs – was the last time she saw him alive.

Mary Prior KC prosecuting, asked the worker if she was concerned – having just witnessed a drug deal and having not seen Finley for a month.

She replied that the “local authority view” was that parents’ cannabis use had to be done safely.

She added: “One parent would take care of the children while the other went to collect drugs and visa versa.”

Opening the trial last week Ms Prior KC told the court: “Stephen Boden could not let the social worker see Finley because he had been battered and bruised and was very unwell.”

The court heard today that the same worker “stayed off work” after receiving the news on December 29 that Finley had died.

She described today how she was assigned the case of Boden and Marsden in May 2020 when their previous social worker took a “leave of absence”.

Despite wanting Finley back following his placement in care at birth, regular drug testing showed both defendants were still using cannabis.

The worker told the court today: “There was a concern that Stephen and Shannon were using cannabis as a strategy to deal with emotions.

"The concern was that having small children can be stressful at times – the worry was they would continue to use cannabis to cope with stress.”

However, despite evidence of continuing use of the drug as late as September 2020, in October the same year Derbyshire County Council’s “recommendation” was that Finley be returned to the defendants.

His return to Boden and Marsden’s care full-time was to be supervised over an eight-week period with a 12-month supervision order monitoring “home conditions”.

Despite the social worker requesting mandatory hair testing of both defendants, this was not ordered by the court.

During a home visit on November 19 it was noted that Finley had a four-centimetre bump on his forehead – however it was explained that this had been caused by playing with a toy.

On a further unannounced visit on November 27 – the last time the worker saw Finley alive – neither Boden nor Marsden answered the door.

However the baby could be seen through a window asleep on his own on the sofa while his parents “listened to music upstairs”.

The trial continues.