Pain of child at mother's hands

Leticia's body was covered with more than 100 injuries

A four-year-old girl who was brutally murdered by her own mother and her partner suffered "unimaginable pain" in the final days of her life.

Cigarette burns, bruises and bite marks were among more than 100 injuries found covering Leticia Wright's dead body from head to toe.

Detectives believe the injuries were inflicted during the last four weeks of Leticia's short life.

The abuse continued "until her body could take no more", police said.

Her mother Sharon Wright, 23, and her partner Peter McKenzie-Seaton, 22, were found guilty of her murder at Bradford Crown Court on Friday.

Detectives branded Wright and her boyfriend 'wicked'

Det Supt Paul Taylor, who led the murder inquiry, said Leticia had been a beautiful, healthy little girl.

"The level of cruelty that Leticia was subjected to beggars belief," he said.

"It is unthinkable that her own mother could treat her in such a way.

"I believe Seaton and Wright would have been well aware of the trauma they had inflicted on Leticia, and they chose to continue the abuse until her body could take no more and she died."

Leticia was born in August 2002 in Dewsbury and moved with her mother to Hartlepool in 2005.

After Wright met McKenzie-Seaton, the couple and Leticia moved to Kettering in Northamptonshire before moving to Almondbury Bank in August 2006.

Det Supt Taylor branded the pair "wicked" and welcomed the conviction.

He said: "Sharon Wright and Peter Seaton deserve to spend a long time in prison and I hope they both reflect on what they have done and hang their heads in shame.

"Our sympathies have always been with Leticia's natural father and his family, and they remain so at this time."