Mum of nine and her partner found guilty of causing the death of her five-month old baby Eli Cox

Katherine Cox and Danny Shepherd now face up to 14 years in prison

Katherine Cox was found guilty of causing the death of her baby Eli (PA)

A mother of nine and her boyfriend have been found guilty of causing the death of her baby son, who suffered suffered a "catastrophic" brain injury.

Five-month-old Eli Cox died in hospital in April last year, two weeks after an incident at his home in Minster-on-Sea on the Isle of Sheppey while in the care of his mother Katherine Cox and her boyfriend Danny Shepherd.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how his heart stopped beating and he stopped breathing.

He was rushed to hospital where his heartbeat was restored, but he was not able to breathe unaided.

He then transferred to King's College Hospital in London but a further scan showed extensive brain damage and life support was withdrawn.

Eli had suffered brain damage and two small round bruises were found at the back of his head.

The jury was told the little boy was found to have 28 fractures of different ages to 19 different bones in his body consistent with being "twisted, pulled, crushed and bent in half", the Kent Messenger reported.

Prosecutor Jennifer Knight said a post mortem found that death had been caused by a "shaking or shaking impact type" head injury and that Eli "had also suffered skeletal injury on many different occasions leading up to his death". Tests also found traces of the drugs.

Cox, 33, and Shepherd, 25, of Faversham, who were the only adults present when Eli was injured, were both found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child between April 12 and 28, and causing or allowing physical harm to a child.

They were also both convicted of possessing the Class B drug amphetamine.

Prosecutor Jennifer Knight said Eli suffered extensive brain damage, consistent with shaking, which was caused by a prolonged period of insufficient oxygen to the brain.

She suggested that these injuries were inflicted on many different occasions on the run-up to his final collapse.

She said: “It was the actions of one of them that resulted in the catastrophic brain injury that Eli Cox suffered that day.

Danny Shepherd denied ever hurting Eli (PA)

“The events of that day were clearly the unhappy culmination of injuries Eli Cox suffered on many occasions, also inflicted by Danny Shepherd and Katharine Cox.

“Both were aware in the weeks leading up to April 13 and on the day of his death that Eli Cox was at serious risk of physical harm.

“They were aware of it because one was the perpetrator and the other knew that perpetrator presented a risk to Eli.”

She claimed Shepherd, who was known as Pickle, had a stick he called "Pickle's beating stick" but he said it was used to control their dogs.

Both Cox and Shepherd denied harming Eli.

They will both be sentenced after a psychiatric report on Shepherd ordered by the judge is carried out to look into how the issue of his autism and his reported low IQ could affect the case.

The maximum sentence both could receive is 14 years in prison.

Additional reporting by PA