A mother and her now ex-partner has been found guilty of killing the woman's two-year-old son, who suffered gruelling weeks of abuse before he met his death in South London.

28-year-old, Kemar Brown was found guilty for repeatedly hitting two-year-old Kyrell Matthews at his Croydon home, before the boy died from injuries in October 2019.

Brown was found guilty of murder on Friday, while Kyrell's mother Phylesia Shirley, 24, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.

Jurors at the Old Bailey listened in on the "harrowing" secret audio recordings of violence against the child that had been captured on Shirley's phone.

The boy was found to have 41 rib fractures which his mother said were caused when she gave him CPR. He also had internal bleeding and a 4cm cut to his liver.

The non-fatal injuries were inflicted in at least five separate attacks over 28 days, indicating a significant period of abuse, according to experts.

In the audio files recorded by his mother, Kyrell could be heard being hit repeatedly, with Brown saying "shut up", causing the toddler to cry and scream.

On one occasion, Brown inflicted several blows on the little boy before telling him: "You have to ruin the fun."

Another recording captured Shirley striking her son and causing him to cry in distress.

Addressing Shirley, Mr Justice Lucraft QC said the court had had to listen to recordings she made of the abuse meted out to a "defenceless" young boy.

"You should feel utterly ashamed by what you have done," he told her.

The court heard Shirley had called NHS 111 after Kyrell became "floppy" at her flat on 20 October 2019.

She performed two-handed CPR for several minutes after phoning the non-emergency helpline.

Mr Brown's defence claimed the injuries were the result of incorrect advice to Shirley about how to resuscitate the little boy.

Judge says the boy's mother put her relationship before her child

The trial also heard that passers-by had alerted officers on 17 July 2019 after hearing shouting and screaming coming from their flat, with a female voice saying: "Stop hitting my face."

It followed an incident in May 2019, when Kyrell suffered a significant injury to the side of his face and spent five days in Croydon University Hospital.

The hospital carried out an investigation and found Shirley's explanation that the little boy had fallen off a sofa and hit his head on a highchair to be "plausible".

It can now be reported that Brown has convictions for robbery, battery, having a knife, drugs and resisting a police officer, as well as being subject to a non-molestation order relating to a former partner.

Prosecutor Edward Brown QC told jurors that Shirley had put her relationship with Brown above the needs of her own child.

Sentencing has been adjourned to 25 March.