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Haringey: the tragic betrayal of another child
Keith Dovkants09.12.08
DAMNING new evidence of the incompetence of Haringey child protection services is revealed today.
The council at the centre of the Baby P scandal snatched another child from a loving foster parent and put him into the care of a couple now at the centre of an investigation into abuse.
Baby C was taken after social workers acting on the orders of disgraced children's director Sharon Shoesmith launched a court battle to take the baby boy from his foster mother, who had applied to become his guardian.
The highly experienced foster mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has now disclosed the full, shocking story to the Evening Standard. It includes her version of how the child, now five and known as Child C, was seized by one of Ms Shoesmith's staff as he played outside his home.
As the social worker ran with the child to a car, the boy screamed for his foster mother, who was physically restrained by a Haringey social services manager.
The council then fast-tracked adoption procedures to place Child C with the couple now being questioned by police over allegations of abuse.
Ms Shoesmith has gone into hiding after she was sacked because of her role in the death of Baby P. She was dismissed from her £100,000-a-year post without a pay-off last night after being suspended last week by Children's Secretary Ed Balls when a damning report found systemic failures in her department.
Ms Shoesmith will still receive a "gold-plated" pension worth up to £1.5 million, and she could legally challenge the decision to deny her a pay-off as she was expected to be entitled to a six-figure severance package.
She failed to return to her Bloomsbury flat last night and her family refused to say where she was. She would not be back until next month, they said.
She caused a furore when she failed to apologise over the death of 17-month-old Baby P, who died after a sustained period of abuse at the hands of his mother, her partner and a lodger.
Ms Shoesmith, 55, played a key role in the handling of Child C. Her department wanted to place the child, who is of African descent, with black adoptive parents and rejected appeals from his foster mother, who is of north African origin but is not black.
The foster mother was one of the borough's approved foster parents and had previously successfully looked after a baby taken from its mother at birth.
Now the Metropolitan Police Child Abuse Investigation Command has been called in to investigate allegations that after he was adopted Child C suffered abuse.
He has been treated twice in hospital, once for a head injury.
The inquiry team has been told the boy's adoptive mother rejected him and complained he was ruining her marriage.
Health professionals familiar with the case were disturbed that Haringey social services department was not acting.
One, consultant child psychiatrist Hamish Cameron, who had compiled a report on Child C, decided to call in the police.
Reader views (13)
We forget that we were all children one day, the cruelty not only of the abusers but the people who are appointed to protect these children is sickening. God bless those little angels.
- Claudia,, London, England
"Giving the power to kidnap children to the right-on feminists who run our councils is a dangerous mistake."
Following that logic, I can only conclude that you think that Haringey Council did exactly the right thing in the Baby P case.
- Michael, London
Cant anyone see there taking the rights from parents away!!!!!
Stand up to the bully's
- Dave, Leicester
Fetus, have you actually READ anything about what happened to Baby P? He was abused for his entire life and killed precisely because he wasn't taken away from his parents..
- Rosie, London, England
I totally agree with Rob Gooner, London. I used to work for a large London council and was forced to "positively discriminate". This meant turning down excellent staff for less competent ones in order to meet my targets on ethnicity, religion and gender. I left and went into the private sector where I now employ the best person for the job no matter what their colour, creed or sexual preference. Consequently I have a fantastic, extremely competent team, which actually mirrors London's diversity.
- Jo, London, UK
pls dont don't break home,work with parent
- Fetus Adedogbe, London,England
This is what occurs when a borough such as Haringey decided to employ people on a positive discrimination basis, you end up with horrendous incompetance. There must be a return to employing the best people for the job, irrelevant of colour, sex, sexual orientation or disability. Failing that you will see more & more awful consequences.
- Rob Gooner, London
it is a pity that children was taking away from care of there parent because of abuse,i beg this government work with the parent don't take there children away from them,parenting them how to manage there children taken them away not helping pls.
- Fetus Adedogbe, London,England
The one consistant that is blatently apparent in all the recent tragedies/debacles whether it be at local or national level is that senior government employees from the prime minister down have been promoted to a level above their competence. In the private sector they would have been fired for incompetence many moons ago, without the option of resigning!(Honour & integrity are not comfortable bedfellows with civil servants). The argument that local government officials are not overpaid, as there equals in the private sector does not hold water, as local government officials would not obtain employment in the private sector at a similar executive level - if they could have they would have, and, that tells you all you need to know!
- Kevin Sullivan, Roehampton, London.
How many other Sharon Shoesmiths are there out there, heading up child protection departments which have been inspected by OfStEd and passed as fit for purpose ? Chilling.
- Peter Haldane, London
Pay out??!! The woman and her complicent team should be put in jail for the way they have abused children in their care and under their supervision.
- Joan, London UK
How the responsible Nu Labor guys got out of this one I do not understand. The British public has been fooled again and do nothing about it! Now it seems that the Crash Gordon government is the saviour?!
- Peteo, London
We are investing huge amounts of power and responsibility in the hands of average persons who cannot fulfil our expectations of them. Giving the power to kidnap children to the right-on feminists who run our councils is a dangerous mistake.
- Neil, london uk, Airstrip ONE .
