HE never stood a chance.Little Luigi Askew was just one month old when his violent father battered him to death in a fit of rage, robbing him of a future full of possibilities.

Neil Puffett

HE never stood a chance.

Little Luigi Askew was just one month old when his violent father battered him to death in a fit of rage, robbing him of a future full of possibilities.

Today that dad, Duncan Mills, faces a mandatory life sentence after being found guilty of murdering his young son and causing grievous bodily harm to Luigi's mother and his ex-partner, Samantha Askew.

Meanwhile, Miss Askew and her family have been left mourning a child she was only just beginning to know and love.

Miss Askew, 23, said: “My Luigi is a star in the sky for myself to look up to and he will never be forgotten.

“When night time comes he will be watching his mummy looking up and smiling at him.”

Mills, a former rapper of London Road, Ipswich, had denied murdering Luigi and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Miss Askew.

During his trial at Ipswich Crown Court Miss Askew told the jury that Mills, 32, had arrived at her father's house at Lanercost Way, Ipswich, on May 26 last year and complained about a dirty sofa.

She said that Mills then began viciously assaulting her, at one point punching her with a hand weapon which was “gold and chunky” and sat on his knuckles.

She said he also dragged her by her clothes into the kitchen and gave her a knife and urged her to stab him, but she had refused. He then beat her with a rubber hammer while sitting on top of her in the living room.

Miss Askew, who was now bleeding from the head, moved upstairs and could hear Luigi crying downstairs but she was not able to get up from the floor.

She told the court that Mills said “I am going to shut him up. I cannot stand this crying”, before he went downstairs.

Miss Askew then told how she heard noises like someone was smacking someone and a sound like someone getting knocked against a radiator.

She said that Luigi stopped crying but soon started again, although it was not his normal cry.

She said Mills told her to get Luigi from downstairs, but he gave her a choice - he would either throw her over the balcony or she could throw herself down. She decided to throw herself down.

After picking Luigi out of his cot, she said she went back upstairs and noticed that his face, belly and legs were covered in bruises. She said his breathing was also funny and sounded wheezy.

Miss Askew told the jury that Mills started panicking “about going to jail” and threatened to kill her if he went to jail.

Luigi died later in hospital from head and abdominal injuries.