Here on Stolen Lives, we discuss brutal and heartbreaking crimes against children.

Themes may include child murder, torture, and sexual domestic and child abuse.

I do try my best to remain respectful for the babies in these stories, and leave out unnecessary

details that honestly, none of us need to know to understand the frustration of why and how

this ever happened.

However, if you find any of these themes triggering this podcast may not be for you.

Listener discretion is advised.

This week's story is a listener suggestion.

Thank you to Stacey for bringing Damien's story to my attention.

This is another story where a child is in a loving and caring environment,

an environment where he had everything he could have wanted or needed.

Then this child was ripped away and placed with a parent, who should never have been given the opportunity to have the child in the first place. August 2023, Blackpool,

England, a two-year-old boy who had an absolute rough start to life. But his father, Daniel,

fought hard to get custody of him, which he did three months earlier.

But then he did the unthinkable, abusing his toddler son until he tragically and horrifically

was murdered. This is Damien's story. Damien Russell was born July 9th, 2021 in Blackpool,

England. Damien didn't have the easiest start to life.

Damien's parents meeting when his mother visited the tattoo parlour where his father, Daniel Hardcastle,

was working. They hit it off and had a brief six-week relationship before going their separate ways.

The two next cross pathspasts in May

2021. And this was when Daniel realised his ex-girlfriend was pregnant. But she would tell Daniel that

the baby wasn't his. However, then at a family barbecue, this woman's father would tell Daniel,

...