Arthur’s uncle, who contacted West Midlands Police to raise the alarm, was even threatened with arrest for breaking lockdown rules if he attempted to visit his nephew.

Eventually, weak from malnourishment and covered in bruises, Arthur was unable to protect himself or flee when Tustin launched a final, vicious assault on him on June 16 last year.

On Thursday Tustin, 32, was found guilty of the “wicked and evil” murder of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, while his father, Thomas Hughes, was convicted of his manslaughter. They will be sentenced on Friday.

Up until he was four years old, Arthur had been cared for by his mother, Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow.

Despite suffering from alcohol and substance addictions, she insisted they had a strong and loving bond.

She described how he loved it when she read Julia Donaldson books to him, his favourite being the Snail and the Whale.

But in February 2019, Arthur’s life was turned upside down when his mother stabbed to death her then boyfriend, Gary Cunningham, during a drink and drug-fuelled binge.

After she was sentenced to 11 years in prison for manslaughter, Hughes was granted custody of Arthur and he took him to live with his parents in a middle-class area of Solihull.

Cherished and loved by the whole family

He and his son lived in an annexe in the garden of the large, semi-detached property and the boy was cherished and loved by the whole family.

According to his grandmother, Joanne Hughes, he would happily play with the girl next door and when he started a new school that autumn he could not have been happier.