The killer of baby P was more than 6ft 4ins with broad shoulders, a sadist with a fascination for Nazi memorabilia, he claimed he was “toughening P up for when he was older”, he treated him the same way he trained his dog. When he and the lodger clicked their fingers the child would touch his forehead on the floor in fear of another beating.

The boyfriend, a knife-obsessed sadist, wore combat gear, collected Nazi military memorabilia including helmets and daggers decorated with swastikas and was always seen with his beloved Rottweiler. He even kept martial arts weapons and a crossbow at the family’s home. Relatives described how as a child he had tortured guinea pigs and particularly frogs, which he would skin alive before breaking their legs.

He had been prosecuted by the RSPCA for torturing animals and faced a police investigation over claims he tortured his own grandmother, allegedly to make her change her will in his favour. The elderly woman died of pneumonia before a decision was taken on whether he should face prosecution, police sources said.

Baby P’s wounds began within weeks of the 32-year-old illiterate odd-job man moving into his mother’s four-bedroom council house in Haringey, North London.

The stepdad also “trained” Baby P to sit on the floor with his head between his legs for half an hour until he clicked his fingers. Police images of the tot’s injuries and stained clothes were shown to jurors.

Prosecuting QC Sally O’Neill told how a family friend revealed the depth of the abuse as the child was used like a punchbag.

She said the stepdad would “pick him up by his throat, punch him and spin him around on the computer chair until he fell off”.

Baby P’s back was broken by being forced over a bent knee or banister, the court heard.

His ears were torn where he had been lifted off the ground and fingernails, fingertips and a toenail were missing. His fingernails were pinched – and possibly ripped by pliers – until they fell off. He had lesions on his scalp — and his lips were ripped.

On Baby P’s final day alive, August 2, police told his mother that they would take no further action over suspicions she had assaulted him.

Medical experts told the trial that Baby P probably received a final, fatal blow that night which stopped him breathing and knocked out a tooth, later found in his stomach.

UPDATE : All the parties in the case were white, in fact the lodger was an NF member. The legal reasons for not reporting the names of the mother and boyfriend are probably that they are facing other charges that might be prejudiced if their names became public.