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Jail sentences over Kemarni's death no longer being reviewed

The jail sentences of the couple convicted over the death of tragic toddler Kemarni Watson Darby will no longer be reviewed by the Court of Appeal, it has been revealed.

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Kemarni Watson Darby was just three-years-old when murdered

Nathaniel Pope was sentenced to life with a minimum of 24 years for the murder of three-year-old Kemarni and his mother Alicia Watson was jailed for 11 years for causing or allowing his death and other child cruelty charges.

Both jail terms were referred by the Solicitor General who has since withdrawn his request, it has emerged.

The Attorney General’s Office has now said there is no "sufficient basis" to conclude they were unduly lenient.

Alicia Watson and Nathaniel Pope

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said: “The Solicitor General referred this case to the Court of Appeal in order to meet the statutory time limit while it was considered further.

"After careful consideration, the referral has now been withdrawn because there was no sufficient basis to conclude that the sentences imposed were, as a matter of law, unduly lenient.”

Convicted drug-dealer Pope, 32, was found guilty by a jury in April, following a five-month trial which heard Kemarni had 34 separate areas of external injuries.

The boy's ribs had been fractured 19 times over a period of four weeks with the force akin to being thrown off a building.

Watson, 31, was frequently erratic in the dock and witness box, crying, swearing and refusing to answer questions about the death of her boy at her West Bromwich flat in June 2018.

The couple, who blamed each other from the witness box, continued to live together for several months after Kemarni died.

The decision to refer the terms to The Court of Appeal happened after members of the public complained to the Attorney General's office through the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme.

Justice Amanda Tipples sentenced Pope, from Wolverhampton, and Watson, from Handsworth, at Birmingham Crown Court.

Giving her reasons for sentencing Watson for 11 years Justice Tipples explained due to her various mental health conditions being in prison would be more difficult for her than for a normal inmate.

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