Murdered Blackpool toddler still not buried A YEAR after his father killed him
A two-year-old Blackpool boy who died at the hands of his own father remains unburied more than a year after he was murdered.
Damion Russell’s short life was ended last August after he was viciously assaulted by the man who had fought for - and been granted - sole custody of him just three months earlier.
In the year that has passed since the toddler’s death on 21st August, 2023, Damion’s father, Daniel Hardcastle, has been investigated, charged and, in July, convicted of the killing.
A jury took just two hours to reach their verdict that he was guilty of murdering the child he had been trusted to protect - and the 31-year-old is now serving life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years.
Yet Damion remains in the morgue where he has lain since his life was snatched away.
That shocking fact came to light after his birth mother contacted Lytham-based singer Hannah Hocking to ask if she would perform at the tot’s funeral.
“I said, yes, of course, I’ll be there - and I asked when it was," Hannah explained. "When she replied she didn’t know yet, that it’s been a year now and that the funeral hadn't been booked - I couldn’t quite believe it.”
“She said social services were supposed to be helping her, but they hadn’t.”
“I was just completely shocked. I’m heartbroken for her. I don't know what the ins and outs are with social services, but I feel like she's a forgotten soul,” said Hannah, who has been an intermittent acquaintance of Damion’s mum for around a decade.
The singer was so moved she has launched a fundraiser to try to help get the tot the funeral he has now been waiting for for half the length of time he was actually alive.
She says she has already received kind offers from people willing to provide services at cost or for free.
The state would usually step in in the event that a deceased person doesn't have anyone who can provide them with a basic funeral, but Hannah says Damion deserves “more than the bare minimum”.
“He deserves a proper send-off with love and support and community,” she added.
“Because I'm a singer and I'm in the wedding industry, I know the same people that do funerals. So I thought I'd be a good person to try and pull a team together.
“If people feel like they want to help, all donations big and small are so appreciated, but even just liking and sharing the GoFundMe post and raising awareness is very helpful.”
After four days, more than £1,000 has been raised against a target of £7,000.
Hannah says any money left over will be used to try to get Damion’s mother the support and help which she is in need of.
As for Damion, “I just want him rested,” she said.
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A LIFE CRUELLY TAKEN
On 19 August, 2023, just after 11am, Daniel Hardcastle rang the emergency services saying his son was unresponsive and injured.
Paramedics arrived soon after and found Hardcastle performing CPR on Damion.
Damion was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital. Sadly, he had suffered an unsurvivable brain injury and was pronounced dead two days later.
Doctors at the hospital noted other injuries in addition to the head injury, including a human bite mark to his right thigh, a rib fracture, damage to his upper lip and extensive bruising to the whole of Damion’s body.
Hardcastle was arrested and in a police interview he gave a prepared statement repeating that Damion had injured himself when he ran into the coffee table and had then begun fitting.
As part of the investigation, data analysis from Hardcastle’s mobile phone revealed that he had made a number of searches in relation to the ageing process of bruises, with one search just four minutes before his call to the emergency services.
Hardcastle made no comment in a subsequent police interview and went on to plead not guilty at court.
Following a lengthy trial at Preston Crown Court, on 10th July this year, he was found guilty of murder.