Toddler who was 'beaten to death by his mother, 24, and her boyfriend was told to 'shut up' and warned he was 'ruining the fun' in harrowing recordings taken before he died from crushed ribs', court hears

  • Kyrell Matthews died with serious injuries including rib fractures and cut to liver
  • Prosecutors say he was subject to serious abuse before he died from his injuries
  • Mother Phylesia Shirley and partner Kemar Brown deny murder and are on trial

A toddler who was allegedly beaten to death by his mother and her partner was told to shut up and warned he was ruining the fun, a court has heard.

Prosecutors say Kyrell Matthews was repeatedly struck by his mother, and her then-partner over several weeks, with 'harrowing' secret audio recordings capturing the violence said to have been meted out by the pair at their flat in south London. 

Kyrell, who was non-verbal, died at the flat on October 20, 2019, with a litany of internal injuries, including 41 rib fractures and a 1.6in (4cm) wide cut to his liver.

His mother Phylesia Shirley and Kemar Brown, who is not the boy's father, deny murdering Kyrell at Shirley's home in Thornton Heath.  

Prosecutor Edward Brown QC told jurors at the Old Bailey: 'Kyrell had his ribs crushed or broken by blows within the four weeks before October 20.

'At least one of the defendants plainly inflicted a significant number of injuries in at least five separate incidents in the four weeks leading up to ... Kyrell's death.

'The pain and distress in those four weeks when he was abused was brought vividly to the fore by those harrowing recordings.

'On October 20, his ribs were crushed once more - it killed him.'

Police later discovered secret audio files on Shirley's mobile phone - the apparent results of attempts to catch Brown being unfaithful - which inadvertently captured the abuse, the prosecution said.

They included multiple audio files where it appeared Kyrell was hit repeatedly, with Brown saying 'shut up', causing the toddler to cry and scream.

Kyrell Matthews, two, suffered months of abuse at the hands of his mother Phylesia Shirley and her boyfriend Kemar Brown according to recordings found on her phone, prosecutors said

Kyrell Matthews, two, suffered months of abuse at the hands of his mother Phylesia Shirley and her boyfriend Kemar Brown according to recordings found on her phone, prosecutors said

On another occasion, prosecutors said, Brown inflicted several blows on the little boy before telling him: 'You have to ruin the fun.'

Another file, the prosecution said, captured Shirley striking her own child and causing him to cry in distress. 

Shirley is said to have carried out the covert phone recordings at her one-bedroom flat to check whether then-partner Kemar Brown was secretly contacting other women.

However, police investigating the death of her son, Kyrell Matthews, discovered that the recordings contained disturbing evidence of the non-verbal boy being hit repeatedly, with Brown saying 'shut up', causing the toddler to cry and scream. 

Prosecutor Mr Brown told jurors: 'It makes for harrowing listening, because, say the prosecution, you will hear Kemar Brown hitting that child again and again on different days, and you will hear Kyrell crying and screaming as a result.'

On one recording, the prosecution said Kyrell could be heard getting increasingly distressed amid 'slapping sounds' and 'hitting noises' as Brown told him to 'shut up'. 

Jurors were told Brown admits it is his voice on the recordings.

The prosecution said Shirley could then be heard asking 'What did he do?', to which Brown is said to have replied 'He got up'.

The prosecutor said: 'Plainly, she (Shirley) has seen distress at the very least, expecting punishment of Kyrell having taken place by Kemar Brown.

'It is plain, say the prosecution, what you can hear.'

In the fourth recording, taken in August 2019, Brown can be heard saying to Kyrell 'Stop crying, stop crying, yeah,' and imitating the baby's cries, followed by two slapping sounds minutes apart.

Minutes later, Brown can be heard saying 'What you crying for?', followed by two hits or slaps, at which point Kyrell yelps and faintly cries.  

Brown showed no emotion as the recordings were played.

The prosecution described the case as a 'determined pattern of repeated and significant assaults on a completely defenceless and young child'.

Jurors were told that on one occasion in the days before he died, Kyrell was apparently 'reluctant to go back into his mother's flat' having spent the day elsewhere.

Jurors heard that the toddler did not attend a nursery and so was in the full-time care of his mother, then aged 21.

A court sketch of Phylesia Shirley, and her partner, Kemar Brown, at the Old Bailey in London

A court sketch of Phylesia Shirley, and her partner, Kemar Brown, at the Old Bailey in London

Neither defendant was employed in the period leading up to Kyrell's death, the court heard.

Both also said they left the flat at separate times, briefly, the day the boy died - although only Shirley's account could be corroborated by CCTV.

Shirley said she raised the alarm by calling the NHS's non-emergency 111 number after she got home, saying her son had become 'floppy', his eyes were rolling back and he was having problems with his breathing.

'The ambulance arrived just 12 minutes later and Kyrell was rushed to hospital. Both Shirley and Brown denied harming him.

It was only following his death that forensic examination offered clues about how he died.

Prosecutor Mr Brown said: 'This all happened behind closed doors, so to speak.

'After the initial investigation, the long task to examine a huge amount of telephone data was begun and trawled through over many months, and what was found was a section on Phylesia Shirley's phone that contained a number of recordings.

'They are revealing - indeed they are very harrowing.

Shirley and Brown both deny murder and are on trial at the Old Bailey in London (pictured)

Shirley and Brown both deny murder and are on trial at the Old Bailey in London (pictured)

'It appears that Phylesia Shirley had taken to setting her phone up to record what might or might not be going on in the flat when she was out, or when she was at least not within earshot.

'It appears that she was checking up on Mr Brown to see if he was contacting other women.

Judge Mark Lucraft QC described the audio footage as 'difficult listening'. 

The court heard earlier that Brown was on his mobile phone as A&E doctors fought to save Kyrell's life. 

The prosecutor continued: 'Phylesia Shirley was observed as being distressed in the flat and at the hospital as well.

'On being told of the decision to pronounce life extinct, she became hysterical.

'Descriptions of Kemar Brown's demeanour at the flat and hospital are those of a calm person, slightly disengaged somewhat unaffected, it appeared, as the emerging tragedy became obvious.

'The CCTV at the hospital shows him on his mobile phone whilst the A&E staff were trying to treat Kyrell and save his life.

'Brown's reaction, or lack of it, the prosecution say, you may think is a surprising one if the child's terrible condition and death was a surprise to him.' 

'It is the prosecution's case that the injuries were inflicted on that very young child by the defendants Phylesia Shirley or Kemar Brown or both of them,' Mr Brown said.

Shirley, of Thonton Heath, south London, denies murder but has admitted allowing the death of a child and allowing serious physical harm to a child.

Brown, of Thornton Heath, south London, denies murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child.

The trial continues.

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