South Yorkshire Police team commended for securing justice for tragic tot

Keigan O’Brien died just a few days after his second birthday because of violence at the hands of his mum’s new partner, Martin Currie.

The youngster suffered a brain bleed and fractured arm in an attack said to have been triggered when Keigan disturbed 36-year-old Currie as he watched porn on his phone.

Keigan was also found to have suffered a fractured spine, fractured ribs and another brain bleed in the weeks and months before his death.,

Currie was found guilty of murder and child neglect and jailed for a minimum of 22 years.

Keigan’s mum, Sarah O’Brien, 33, was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of allowing or permitting the death of a child and child neglect.

Mrs Justice Jennifer Eady QC, who jailed the pair, awarded the officers involved in the case with ‘Judicial Commendations’.

Judges award them to officers who are deemed to have gone above and beyond in their roles.

Officers who were first to arrive at the scene and provided CPR to Keigan were commended for their efforts to try to save the little boy’s life.

The Judge said: “It certainly struck me when I was reading the evidence in this case, how speedily officers attended the scene and the work that they did trying to desperately save the life of Keigan O’Brien, in what were hopeless circumstances.”

DCI James Axe and his team of detectives – DC Lisa Kramer, DC Paul Rooney, DC Michelle Hardy, DC Ellen Speight and Intelligence Officer Karen Jackson – were also commended for their efforts to ensure that Currie and O’Brien were held responsible for their actions.

During the trial it emerged that it took Currie and O’Brien two hours to dial 999 for an ambulance after finding Keigan unresponsive.

During that time, the pair are said to have concocted a series of lies in a bid to cover their tracks.

They had only embarked on a relationship six months earlier and Currie soon moved in with O’Brien and her children.