Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 22:10, 13 December 2008

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Killing of Peter Connelly" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

"Baby P"
Born	(2006-03-01)1 March 2006 North London, United Kingdom
Died	3 August 2007(2007-08-03) (aged 1) London, United Kingdom
Cause of death	Abuse

"Baby P" (also known as "Child A") is the alias of a 17-month old boy who died in London after suffering over 50 injuries. His mother, her boyfriend, and their lodger, Jason Owen, were all convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, the mother having pleaded guilty to the charge. A court order prevents the publication of the identities of Baby P, his mother and her boyfriend.

The child protection services of the London Borough of Haringey were widely criticised in the media. Following the conviction, three inquiries and a nationwide review of social service care were launched. The nationwide review is to be conducted by Lord Laming into his own recommendations after a similar case in Haringey concerning the murder of Victoria Climbié in 2000. The death was also the subject of debate in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

Events leading to the death

Baby P was born on 1 March 2006. In November, his mother's new boyfriend moved in with her. In December, a GP noticed bruises on Baby P's face and chest. His mother was arrested and Baby P was put into the care of a family friend, but returned home to his mother's care in January 2007. Over the next few months, Baby P was admitted to hospital on two occasions suffering from injuries including bruising, scratches and swelling on the side of the head. The mother was arrested again in May 2007.

In June 2007, a social worker observed marks on Baby P and informed the police. A medical examination concluded that the bruising was due to abuse. On 4 June, the baby was placed with a friend for safeguarding. Over a month later, on 25 July, Haringey's Children & Young People's Service obtained legal advice which indicated that the "threshold for initiating Care Proceedings...was not met".

On 1 August, 2007, Baby P was seen at St Ann's Hospital in north London by locum paediatrician Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat. A post-mortem examination later revealed a broken back and ribs, among a number of other injuries, that are believed to have pre-dated Al-Zayyat's examination.

On 2 August, the mother was informed that she would not be prosecuted. On 3 August 2007, Baby P was found dead in his cot.

Conviction

On 11 November 2008 Jason Owen, 36, and the 32-year-old boyfriend of Baby P's mother were found guilty of "causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable person". Baby P's 27-year-old mother had pleaded guilty to this charge. Earlier in the trial, Owen and the mother had been cleared of murder due to insufficient evidence. The boyfriend was found not guilty of murder by a jury. All three were due to be sentenced on 15 December 2008 but, at the end of November, sentencing was postponed until March or April 2009.

Aftermath

Haringey Council initiated an internal audit Serious Case Review (SCR) after the death of Baby P. Although the actual report was completed months prior, the Executive Summary of the report was released immediately after the court case had completed. The full details of the report have been kept confidential. Outside of Haringey councll and Haringey Labour councillors it has been offered for viewing to the two local MP's (Lynne Featherstone and David Lammy) and leader of the opposition Robert Gorrie and opposition spokesperson for Childrens Services. They may only view the report if they sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Lynne Featherstone MP has been particularly critical of Haringey Council, writing "I personally met with George Meehan and Ita O'Donovan - Haringey Council's leader and chief executive - to raise with them three different cases, where the pattern was in each case Haringey seeming to want to blame anyone who complained rather than to look at the complaint seriously. I was promised action - but despite repeated subsequent requests for news on progress - I was just stonewalled."

Three council workers, including one senior lawyer, were given written warnings about their actions.

The GMC examined the role of Dr Sabah Al-Zayyat, who examined Baby P two days before his death and who has been accused of failing to spot his injuries. She was suspended pending an inquiry. Her contract with Great Ormond Street Hospital, responsible for child services in Haringey, has also been terminated.

Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families ordered an external inquiry into Haringey Council Social Services. This will not examine the Baby P case explicitly, but look into whether Haringey Social Services are following correct procedures in general. This report was presented to ministers on 1 December 2008. During a Press Conference that day, the Minister announced that, in an unusual move, he had used special powers to remove Sharon Shoesmith, head of children's services at Haringey Council, from her post. She had ignored calls for her resignation, but was finally sacked on 8 December 2008, by Haringey Council, without any compensation package. Ed Balls also condemned the initial internal Serious Case Review and called for a second one but with an independent adjudicator.

Also announced on 1 December 2008, were the resignations of Labour Council leader George Meehan and councillor Liz Santry, cabinet member for Children and Young People. These councillors had previously refused calls for their resignation during a 24 November council meeting.

Three further inquires have also been ordered:

• The role of all agencies in the case of Baby P including the health authority, police and Haringey Council will be reviewed.
• The General Social Care Council will look into potential breaches of its code of practice.
• Lord Laming will conduct a nationwide review by of his own recommendations after the Victoria Climbié inquiry.

The DES, now the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was sent a letter in February 2007 (6 months before the death of Baby P), containing an allegation that child protection procedures were not being followed in Haringey, from a lawyer acting for a former social worker, who sent the letter to the then health secretary, Patricia Hewitt who merely forwarded the letter on to the DCSF. Haringey Council then took out an injunction against the social worker, Nevres Kemal, banning her from speaking about child care in Haringey. Kemal's lawyer stated: "Hewitt bounced us onto the DES... the DES then advised us to write to the Commission for Social Care Inspection whom we had written to on the same day as we had written to Hewitt, copying in the letter to Hewitt and the relevant material. By that time of course they had an injunction against us so we couldn't go back to the inspectorate. The inspectorate had been properly advised at the time and had done nothing."

See also

• Kidnapping of Shannon Matthews
• Maria Colwell, an English child who was killed by her stepfather in 1973

References

1. ^ Sam Jones (2008-11-12). "Sixty missed chances to save baby 'used as a punchbag'". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
2. "The Case of Child A". Haringey Council. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
3. Duncan Campbell, Sam Jones and David Brindle (2008-11-12). "50 injuries, 60 visits - failures that led to the death of Baby P". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
4. ^ "Men found guilty of baby's death". BBC News. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
5. "Websites probed over Baby P posts". BBC News. 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
6. ^ "What we know of the Baby P case". BBC News. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
7. Michael White (2008-11-12). "Squabble over Baby P was not the Commons at its best". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
8. ^ "Timeline: Key events in baby case". BBC News. 2008-11-14. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
9. "Haringey Local Safeguarding Children Board, Serious Case Review "Child A" - Executive Summary" (PDF). Haringey Council. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
10. "Baby P: The full health dossier". BBC News. 2008-11-18. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
11. ^ "Baby P doctor 'deeply affected'". BBC News. 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
12. "Two are cleared of murdering baby". BBC News. 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
13. "Investigation called after child murder case with echoes of Climbie". The Times. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
14. "Judge postpones Baby P sentencing". BBC News. 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
15. "Haringey Council Internal Audit - Serious Case Review" (PDF). Haringey Council. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
16. "Haringey Full Council Meeting 24th November Webcast". Haringey Council. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
17. "A litany of failure by Haringey". Lynne Featherstone MP. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
18. "Haringey Council Internal Audit - Serious Case Review" (PDF). Haringey Council. 2008-11-12. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
19. "Doctor suspended in Baby P probe". BBC News. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
20. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/dec/01/baby-p-ed-balls-statement
21. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/dec/01/baby-p-ed-balls-statement
22. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1090702/Baby-P-clumsy-high-pain-threshold-Councils-astonishing-verdict-toddler-emerges-officials-investigating-ANOTHER-abuse-case.html
23. http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/news_and_events/latest_news/statementonsharonshoesmith.htm
24. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/dec/01/baby-p-ed-balls-statement
25. "Official sacked over Baby P case". BBC News. 2008-12-01. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
26. "Baby P councillors told to resign". BBC News. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
27. "Councillors survive Baby P calls". BBC News. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
28. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3457637/Baby-P-Whistleblowers-concerns-about-care-scandal-council-pushed-from-pillar-to-post.html

{{subst:#if:Baby P|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2006}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2007}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 2006 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:2007}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}

• Living people
• 2007 deaths
• British children