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Tragic 17-month life of toddler failed by family and professional carers
Evening Standard11 Nov 2008
THE countdown to Baby P's death reveals opportunities missed by doctors, police and social workers to prevent the abuse he was suffering.
2003: Mother marries the baby's father after meeting him when she was 16.
March 2006: The baby is born.
June 2006: Mother begins relationship with a boyfriend when the baby is three months old.
July 2006: The baby's father leaves the home.
September 2006: Mother is treated for depression and tells her GP the baby, aged six months, was bruising easily.
October 2006: Mother claims bruising on baby's head and chest caused when he fell down the stairs.
11 December 2006: Baby taken to family GP with injuries to his forehead, nose and chest. His mother appeared "flustered and unable to provide a clear explanation". GP sends the baby to Whittington hospital and puts paediatricians there on "full alert". Mother claims the baby had fallen off a settee and been scratched by their dog. But a consultant feared he had been attacked and social services were called in for the first time.
19 December: Police arrest the mother on suspicion of assaulting her baby before releasing her on bail. The baby is later discharged into the care of a female friend of his mother who he stays with for a month.
22 December 2006: The baby is placed on the child protection register, eight months before his death, under the categories of neglect and physical abuse.
January 2007: Social workers visit the house and find it small, crowded, very untidy and smelling of urine. Baby sent back to his mother who moves into a bigger house.
February 2007: Haringey council appoints Maria Ward as the family's social worker. She sees the child headbutting the floor. Health visitor Paulette Thomas also visits and finds a place for the mother on the Mellow Parenting programme. There are also visits from Haringey Family Support Service project workers.
April 2007: Another visitor sees the boy eating dirt in the garden. The child is taken to North Middlesex hospital with a large swelling to the side of his head, bruising and scratches which his mother blamed on a fall. Mother claims he is just clumsy. Ms Ward and Ms Thomas visit the home again after his release from hospital.
June 2007: Police launch a new investigation into the boy's injuries. Mother is arrested and bailed again. Lodger Jason Owen moves into the home and the abuse "accelerates".
July 2007: Childminder notices a bleeding sore on the child's head, that he has nappy rash and is always hungry. She reports this to social workers. On a later visit she notices he is lethargic with blood coming from his ear. She also reports this to social workers. Father sees his son for the last time and notices he has a bandaged left hand, looks thin and withdrawn.
26 July 2007: Family GP finds the boy has a fresh ear wound and head lice. Notices he is withdrawn and asks the mother to bring him back in a week for a review.
30 July 2007: Ms Ward visits for the final time but fails to spot injuries because they had been deliberately covered with cream and chocolate.
1 August 2007: The boy is taken to the Child Development Centre at St Ann's Hospital in Tottenham suffering from serious injuries, including fractured ribs and paralysis from a broken back. Locum consultant paediatrician Dr Sabah Alzayyat notes bruises but decides against systemic examination because he was "miserable and cranky". She prescribes him antibiotics and refers him for further tests.
2 August 2007: Police tell mother no further action will be taken against her after her arrests in December and June over injuries to the child.
3 August 2007: The toddler dies of his injuries.
Reader views (5)
we have three children one of which is two, I am no childcare expert but those social workers and the locum doctor should be banned from ever working in child protection ever again. How many injuries or visits does one child need before some twat doing the bare minimum in their job actualy wakes up and takes responsibility and says this child is at risk? crap parents and crap social workers.
- James, wiltshire, 12/11/2008 11:54
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Names are being witheld to protect identity of others who have a completely innocent relationship to the event
- Speedo, harrogate, 12/11/2008 09:03
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Names usually are not published because childrne may be involved ansd it's really to protect them more than anything. That's all i can think of.
- Jane Winters, Ilford, 11/11/2008 21:58
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Once again a child dies needlessly through a catalogue of errors and incompetencies on the part of agencies who are employed to protect them - It would appear that continual inquiries and recommendation into such cases go unheeded and may not be worth the paper they are written on. It is no good all those involved passing the buck and pointing the finger - everyone involved in the case of this child must take some responsibility in his eventual death. parents/carers can only get away with hiding injuries on children/babies when those who are supposed to be working to ensure the safety of those children are not shrewd enough or vigilante enough to ensure that they see the child on a regular basis - without the camoulflage and excuses that are so often used to disguise the evidence of abuse. If this young boy was seen as often as stated in reports then I believe that it should raise alarm bells in all of us, in the failings and the inadequacies of all concerned once again, even more so as this young child was on the at risk register, but even that did not save him. The people who saw fit to torture this vulnerable defenceless child will now be dealt with by the courts - but what of the people who condemned this child to his tortorous fate through what can only be described as a catalogue of once again outrageous and appalling errors who will deal with them.
- G. J. Edwards, Birmingham - England, 11/11/2008 21:47
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can someone please explain to me why their names are being withheld for LEGAL REASONS. What legal reasons can prevent the press from revealing their identities?
- Susan Rawlings, Cambridge, England, 11/11/2008 16:13
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