Daniel Pelka: mother and stepfather jailed for at least 30 years His starvation was so chronic his bones stopped growing. His starvation is unprecedented in this country. Luczak, 27, Krezolek, 34, who came to Britain from their native Poland in 2006, were described as heartless "monsters" during the nine-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court. Throughout the case each blamed the other for the child's death. Jurors, who had sat through a wealth of evidence charting six months of systematic abuse against the defenceless youngster, took less than four hours to unanimously convict them both earlier this week. Evidence included details of Daniel's final moments as he was first savagely beaten, leaving him with a fatal head injury, and then left to die alone in his unheated "cell" room over a period of 33 hours. The judge said she was convinced Krezolek had delivered the fatal blow, but said they were both equally culpable for the murder. The couple colluded in a campaign of cruelty in which he was denied food, imprisoned in a locked box room and force-fed salt at their Coventry home. Police said the abuse had turned Daniel from a "bright-eyed boy" to "a broken bag of bones." At time of death, he weighed just 1st 7lb (10.7kg) and had been reduced to the point of "skeletal emaciation" by the regime of starvation orchestrated by his stepfather and mother. Detectives described the harrowing death as the worst case of child abuse they had ever seen. A serious case review looking at what lessons can be learned from the young boy's death has now been launched by Coventry's Safeguarding Children Board. The review team is expected to examine any missed opportunities to intervene in Daniel's case and will also look at why social services and police did not become involved after staff at Coventry's Little Heath Primary School noticed bruising on his neck and what appeared to be two black eyes. Speaking after the verdict, Detective Inspector Chris Hanson, described the murder as an "unforgivable and heartbreaking" betrayal of trust. Those with the ultimate duty of care turned Daniel from a beautiful and bright-eyed little boy into a broken bag of bones. It was a callous and wretched murder. After a savage beating they left him, starving, locked in a room in the dark to die on his own. Peter Wanless, Chief Executive of the NSPCC, said: "Little Daniel Pelka suffered immeasurable pain at the hands of Magdalena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek and we welcome the long prison sentences his murderers will serve for their repulsive crime. They cowardly harmed a defenceless child and then blamed each other for his death in a pathetic attempt to escape justice. Thankfully this failed. We may never know, and certainly never understand, why they singled Daniel out for such sickening abuse, but we do know that the right place for them is behind bars for many, many years.