Authorities failed battered toddler

Sanam Navsarka, of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, died in May 2008 following weeks of appalling abuse in which she suffered more than 100 horrific injuries.

Subhan Anwar, 21, was jailed for a minimum of 23 years for her murder, while her mother, Zahbeena Navsarka, also 21, was jailed for nine years after being found guilty of her manslaughter.

A serious case review found that, while Anwar and Navsarka were responsible for Sanam's death, there were failures by professionals at Kirklees Council which may have changed the "eventual outcome". The report said Navsarka's sister told staff at the Looked After Children Service that she had concerns about Sanam but was advised to pass on the information herself.

Staff at the service were told, four weeks before her death, that Sanam had been seen on separate occasions with a bruise and a mark to her head and that Anwar was suspected of hitting her. However, this information was not shared or recorded as Sanam's welfare was not seen to be the responsibility of this service, which works with young people in the wider family network.

The review found these failings meant opportunities to assess Sanam's situation and possibly put protective measures in place were missed.

It stated: "There were some significant departures from professional good practice and procedures. Most notable of these was the failure by individual professionals to report appropriately concerns about the child's welfare. If those concerns had been reported, it is likely that protective measures would have been initiated that may have changed the eventual outcome."

Agencies were involved with other members of the family but attention was not focused on Sanam, who was not on the child protection register, or Anwar, who was not known to authorities.

The review said: "Despite a raft of agency involvement, the child was not the focus of intervention, which was instead directed towards the adults, or towards other young people within the family for whom staff had a particular responsibility. She is largely invisible in this review. Professionals failed to see the situation from a child's point of view: she was never seen to have a need of her own, so assessment and intervention was never directed specifically towards her."

Alison O'Sullivan, director for the Children and Young People's Service, said Kirklees Council fully accepted the findings of the review and apologised for the department's failings.