Woman savagely beaten and left in a coma by her neighbour’s boyfriend speaks of heartbreak that the thug went on to murder his girlfriend’s baby

A WOMAN who was savagely beaten by her neighbour's boyfriend has told of her heartbreak that he went on to murder his girlfriend's baby.

Melissa Etheridge, from Uxbridge, had regularly babysat for 13-month-old Noah since his mum Ronnie Tayler-Morrison, 22, had moved into the flat above her.

But on July 23, 2015, Ronnie's partner Hardeep Hunjan, 27, launched an unprovoked attack on Melissa which left her traumatised and needing reconstructive surgery.

That November, 26-year-old Melissa was devastated when police told her Hunjan had killed little Noah - after subjecting him to unimaginable abuse while Ronnie turned a blind eye.

In July last year Hardeep was jailed for life, to serve 23 years minimum and two years for child cruelty, and 13 years for the attack on Melissa.

Ronnie Tayler-Morrison was convicted of causing or allowing son Noah's death and imprisoned for six-and-a-half years, as well as two years for child cruelty to run concurrently.

Now Melissa is plagued by guilt that she could have done more to protect the little boy, something his own mother failed to do.

Melissa told how she used to be mates with Hunjan until she'd seen a nasty side to him, especially after he'd had a drink.

She recalled: ";I warned Ronnie he was bad news, but she was smitten and he moved in with her and Noah in July 2015.

"I adored Noah so I still babysat for them. But they'd often dump him at mine so they could party, smoke marijuana and drink.

"They were a toxic mix, and always rowing. After one row their flat was trashed and covered in broken glass."

When Melissa suggested again that Tayler-Morrison should leave Hunjan, she told how she accused her of being "jealous".

Not long after, she was woken one night by a banging on her front door.

Before she could get there Hunjan burst in and threw himself at her.

Melissa said: "He was pummelling my face, and my head and body was smashed against walls and surfaces.

"I heard bone crunch under the blows and I couldn't breathe. I thought he was going to kill me."

Eventually Hunjan stopped and fled, leaving Melissa semi-conscious and in agony.

Luckily a friend who had heard the commotion called an ambulance and she was rushed to Ealing Hospital.

Melissa recalled: "I had multiple fractures and I was vomiting blood.

"Doctors put me in an induced coma for two weeks."

Hunjan was arrested and bailed, while Melissa underwent three operations to reconstruct her face and had her teeth wired.

"I had two bulging black eyes and swollen cheeks," she said.

Facing months of recovery in hospital, Melissa told how she was traumatised and withdrew into herself.

In November 2015 she received a visit from the police who told her Noah was dead and that Hunjan and Tayler-Morrison had been arrested.

Distraught, Melissa discharged herself from hospital and moved away from the area, turning to drink and drugs for a time to cope.

In June last year Hunjan appeared at Isleworth Crown Court and was convicted of grievous bodily harm for her attack.

A month later he and Tayler-Morrison went on trial at Luton Crown Court for Noah's murder.

There, it emerged that Tayler-Morrison had known her boyfriend was violent and dangerous, but she was obsessed with him.

In a diary entry she'd written how she loved her son but "loved Hardeep more".

On the night little Noah died, the vile pair had filmed themselves smoking weed and boozing and posted it online.

Hours later Hunjan lost his temper and punched Noah, leaving him with a 15cm gash to his head and a fractured skull.

It took two hours for he and Tayler-Morrison to call an ambulance at 3:30am, by which time Noah had stopped breathing.

Before paramedics arrived, Hunjan showered the little boy to wash away any forensic evidence.

The pair claimed he had fallen out of his cot, but doctors said his injuries were so severe they resembled those of a car crash victim.

He had 15 fractures to his arms, legs and left foot, and it emerged that Hunjan had been abusing Noah for weeks.

Sick Hunjan was convicted of murder and causing or allowing the death of a child, while Tayler-Morrison was acquitted of murder but convicted of causing or allowing Noah's death and child cruelty.

After the sentences were handed down, Detective Inspector Fraser Wylie from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: "The sentences passed against this deceitful pair will ensure they are no longer free to live the hedonistic, selfish lifestyle they clearly enjoyed at the expense of Tayler-Morrison's own son.

";Tragically tiny Noah had his life brutally and mercilessly cut short by Hunjan, as his mother turned a blind eye to the abuse that was repeatedly inflicted upon him.

"I have said that this case is one of the most shocking and sickening cases of violence we have ever come across in the Major Crime Unit, and while the jail terms will hopefully provide some comfort to Noah's wider family, nothing will ever bring him back."

Melissa said: "I'm still heartbroken and tormented with questions.

"Could I have saved Noah, or done more to protect him? I'll never know.

"Hunjan is a monster, but Ronnie was his mum. She should have protected him with her last breath. I would've done.

"They both deserve to rot."

Yesterday we told how a mum "killed her three-year-old son and tossed his body in a river so she could go on holiday".

Earlier this month we reported how a father and daughter were found guilty of killing a neighbour whom they had attacked for bursting a child’s football that landed in her garden.