A “monster” couple who subjected a little girl to “horrific and despicable” abuse have been jailed.
Zabien Burns, 35, and Bethany Hill, 27, filmed themselves repeatedly sexually abusing the “vulnerable” girl on multiple occasions, reports the Mirror. Hill joined in the “vile and cruel” sexual abuse inflicted upon the child after becoming dependent on Burns and “in awe” of him, the court heard.
Kama Melly KC, prosecuting, told a sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court that the sexual abuse of the girl came to light after phones belonging to Burns were seized as part of an investigation into his violence towards Hill. Burns initially refused to give police his phone’s PIN code but, after nine months, access was finally gained by police and the sexual abuse was uncovered in the videos.
Investigators found hundreds of indecent child abuse images, including some in the most serious category. Several videos were found of Burns and Hill repeatedly abusing the young girl, including rape and sexual acts. Hill was shown holding the camera to film the abuse.
Miss Melly said: “The offences were discovered from the recordings. She was abused by the defendants on multiple occasions.”
The mother of the girl had no idea that the abuse had happened until the police became involved, reports Hull Live. She later said: “I never thought something so sickening would happen to my family. Their actions have sickened me to the core. It made me feel completely numb. It was a big, horrible shock. I started to feel rage. I feel so much anger towards what monsters like these do to children. What has happened is constantly on my mind. I sometimes find it incredibly difficult to sleep. My brain always seems to be going at 1,000 miles an hour.”
The mother told Burns and Hill: “There are no words to describe what you two are. What you did was vile and cruel.” Their “heinous actions” had been the most “horrific and traumatising” experiences that she had ever been through, and she said she constantly worried about the impact the abuse could have on her “beautiful” daughter.
Burns and Hill were also having sex with each other at the time of the abuse. The girl woke up and she was clearly distressed by the abuse and cried for her mother.
Judge Richard Woolfall said Burns had “deep-seated sexual interest in children” and showed “distorted thinking around sex and children”. The judge told Burns: “You have committed serious and depraved offending.” He told Hill: “You accept that you were responsible for that abuse. You were fully engaging in what was going on. There is no evidence of any reluctance on your part.”
Judge Woolfall said the mother of the girl “battles the enormity of what happened every day” and the abuse “plagues her waking hours”
Burns was also convicted after a separate earlier trial at Hull Crown Court of offences involving assault causing actual bodily harm and strangulation against Hill. He had convictions for 20 previous offences, including assault causing actual bodily harm, possessing a knife in public, possessing cocaine and supplying cannabis. He had been jailed for six years in 2013 for wounding with intent. Hill had no previous convictions but she had a caution for harassment in 2019.
David Godfrey, mitigating, said that Burns claimed that he could not “look in the mirror” because of what he had done and he had said: “I have got to live with this now.” Rachel Scott, representing Hill, said that it was “serious and depraved offending” and there was nothing that could be said to “reduce the pain” of the girl’s mother.
Hill was “very much in awe of” Burns at the time and she quite quickly became dependent on him. Miss Scott said: “She ignored the clear red flags.”
Speaking after the sentencing, the child’s mum said: “When I was first told what had happened, it made me feel completely numb. It was a huge, horrendous shock, but once it started to sink in, I felt nothing but rage. Since that day, the thoughts of what these disgusting and horrible individuals have done has plagued me from the moment I open my eyes until I go to sleep. There are no words for the heinous actions of Hill and Burns’, and the impact that it has had, and will continue to have, on our family is immeasurable.
“I am sickened to the core, and the effect this has had can only be described as soul destroying. Hill and Burns are vile and cruel. I will never forgive you for what you have done.”
Burns, 35, of no fixed address but previously living in Hull and London, denied a series of sex offences, including rape of a child under 13, causing the sexual exploitation of a child and sexual assault of a child under 13. He was convicted by a jury after a trial at Grimsby Crown Court.
Hill, 27, of Boulevard, west Hull, admitted the offences. She was jailed for 10 years and she will be on extended licence of four years after her release from prison.
Burns was also convicted of three offences of making indecent images of children. He will officially serve a minimum of 16 years and eight months before he can be considered for release, but the time in prison is likely to be significantly less, because the 961 days that he had spent in custody on remand will be deducted from that first. Hill is likely to serve six years and eight months behind bars before she could be released, the court heard.
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