Couple jailed for at least 21 years for murder of vulnerable man in their care

Kenneth Newton and Melanie James filmed themselves mocking and abusing Rubin Blount, 28, who weighed 40kg when he died

A couple convicted of murder after inflicting “deliberate cruelty” on a vulnerable 28-year-old man in their care, who at the time of his death weighed just 40kg (6st 4lb), have been jailed for life.

Rubin Blount was made to stand for long periods of time, left to lie in his own urine and forced to eat out of bins by his stepbrother Kenneth Newton and Newton’s partner, Melanie James, at a property in Tamworth, Staffordshire, Stafford crown court heard.