A couple have been convicted for their role in the death of a 15-month-old boy who they subjected to weeks of abuse and violent assault.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Jake Drummond, 33 (27.12 1989), of Tunworth Crescent, Roehampton, was found guilty today of gross bodily harm with intent and the murder of 15-month-old Jacob Lennon.

Jacob’s mother Louise Lennon, 32 (07.08.90), of Ingrave Street, Battersea, was found guilty of neglect of a child and causing/ allowing the death of a child.

They will be sentenced at the same court on Monday, 24 April.

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jolley said: “No one who has listened to the catalogue of injuries inflicted on Jacob Lennon can be anything but horrified. It is hard to comprehend how such a young and vulnerable baby could have been so abused. Drummond and Lennon sought to cover up their guilt by blaming accidents or feigning ignorance of how he was injured. However, a jury saw through their attempts to avoid the blame and found them both accountable for Jacob’s death.

“This case was very distressing and I would like to thank my team and all those who supported the prosecution for their professionalism and diligence. Everyone concerned has had to listen to some truly harrowing evidence, but we were determined to persevere and bring those responsible for Jacob’s death to justice.”

The court heard how the investigation began following a call to officers at 06:06hrs on 27 August, 2019 to a residential address in Putney, SW15.

The London Ambulance Service informed police that they were responding to reports of a child in cardiac arrest.

The child, Jacob Lennon,, was taken to a west London hospital. He was sadly pronounced dead at 07:22hrs.

A post-mortem examination took place on 29 August 2019 at Great Ormond Street Hospital. This found traumatic brain injuries, some of which were from a period of days or weeks earlier. The cause of death was a fatal brain injury inflicted some three to five hours before Jacob’s death.

In addition to this, there were 20 further marks of recent injury on Jacob’s head, face and neck, 11 to his arms, seven to his legs and seven to his body.

His genitals were also found to have suffered severe injuries. Lennon told officers that Drummond claimed to her that these injuries had been caused by another child using a toy plastic knife.

The examination established that Jacob had been subjected to days and weeks of abuse and violent assault.

When police arrived, Drummond and Lennon told officers that they had gone in to check on Jacob at about 06:00hrs. Drummond, who was Lennon’s boyfriend, said he had gone in and noticed he was not breathing so started CPR.

Lennon told the officers that they had been away the previous week on holiday and Jacob had fallen over in a playground and hit his head on a kerb, causing an injury. She stated that this had not caused him any issues.

When interviewed, Drummond said he and Lennon were asleep and had woken to the sound of a loud bang and a little squeal. They both ran into the bedroom and found Jacob face down on the floor and unresponsive.

He fabricated a story to officers about how Jacob got the injuries.

Both of the defendants lied to cover up their involvement in Jacob’s death, but they were convicted as above following a thorough investigation by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command.

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