Somebody will catch them and either cut them or throw a mug full of heavily sugared boiling water over them (very stick and sticks like shit to a blanket) but that won't bring back the little lad and it won't sort out the failures in the system that allowed this to happen. I've got a granddaughter who's 6 at the end of this month and another grandchild due in January and how anyone can hurt young kids is way beyond my level of comprehension. I'm more pissed off by the fact that nobody noticed the state that poor boy had got into than I am by the fact that there are mentally deficient people around that actually harm kids because you can't find every head case but there should be safe guards in place to catch them before they kill someone. We can only hope that it won't happen again but history suggest that unfortunately it will
The real question is how were they allowed to get Away with it I guarantee a few more overpaid incompetent public sector workers will be ending the careers early on a generous enhanced final salary pension.
My 6 year old daughter kicked up a fuss today because I made her a chicken sandwich instead of ham. I sat her down and told her the story of this little boy and how he was starved and abused. I must admit at times, looking at my little girl and how she was reacting, I was struggling to get the words out. But afterwards she ate her sandwich without complaint. It's easy to blame the system when we don't know all the facts. But let's not get sucked into the Daily Mail mentality and just remember that there's some truely evil fuckers out there.
Nick i second that, there will always be people of the mentality that will cause harm to kids, I left the police earlier this year having spent a long time managing child sex offenders. The psychology of some would curl your toes. But this was a sustained level of abuse over a prolonged period, and I for one cannot understand how he slipped through the net. Joint working protocols should mean that not only are children's social services and the police responsible but all education staff have safeguarding training and the school would have been involved with strategy meetings. I now work in a training and advisory capacity for a number of organisations and was discussing this case with a group of social workers and they likewise cannot understand how a child can and did fall so suddenly under the radar. Heads will roll, fundamentally because he should of been protected and wasn't . The fact he was discussed at a meeting incl, doctors tells me that someone voiced concerns and it was ignored.
Heads rolled after Baby P and guess what, it's happened again, I am sure there will be more tough talk, heads will roll again and some senior people will lose their jobs, but will that safeguard vulnerable children in other parts of the country, sadly I think not.
Kids have been let down for years, going back to the middle of last century when Maria coldwell was killed and the first serious case review. We will never be able to protect all the kids all the time due to some very sick people in society, what we have to do is minimise the risk posed to kids . As a society we are constantly learning, adapting and changing our attitudes to what is and is not acceptable. What happened was disgraceful and disgusting and rightly so heads will and should role. And yes it will improve performance and instigate further safeguard measures for kids. So yes hopefully it safeguard vulnerable kids throughout the UK.
We never get to hear about all those thousands of children whose cases are picked up, who are safeguarded and protected successfully, whose abuse is ended or prevented, and who are rescued by the system. Those cases are strictly confidential and never reported on. The social workers, police officers, teachers, etc get no thanks for their efforts. But that tiny proportion of cases where the system fails, the child slips through the net, the protectors fail, and the outcome is misery and death - those get the glare of publicity and manufactured outrage. For all I know, the social worker who failed in this case may have succeeded in saving the lives of a dozen similar children previously, and got no thanks for it. Just bear that in mind when calling for "heads to roll", please.
I hear what your saying Peter.We should be living in a society where not one single child falls through the net. If I hear once again that "We shall learn lessons from this" I will know we have failed yet again.I say we as it is up to all of us to report abuse.I realise that it is always difficult in abuse cases to sort out fact and fiction,but where a childs welfare is concerned all suspicions should be followed up by properly trained people with all the necessary resources and funding in place.There cannot be excuses for inaction.
If only. For all crimes generally (and crimes against children are no exception), the perpetrators tell lies, seek to deceive, and conceal their actions. Discovering the truth is complicated. Whoever tries to do it, they will not always get it right. That is the reality. As far as funding and resources are concerned, social services in many areas have been cut and cut again. Many social workers are struggling heroically with huge workloads and minimal help. They go unappreciated when they succeed, but get abused and threatened when they fail. Such is life!
I thought in this very sad case it should have been easy to prevent the poor boy from further suffering when he turned up at school one day with 2 black eyes. At my wifes school they have a child protection officer who will take on board any teachers misgivings about a childs welfare." unexplained black eyes would have led to an immediate referral to social services.I too wish all the systems in place were perfect,but somehow they seem to be,at times,not functioning at all.We shall leave it here for now as it will not help that poor little soul now.
Mervyn, all schools have a DSP Designated Senior Person, to who all concerns are reported to be it by staff, support staff etc; this person is then responsible for contacting the LADO (Local Area Designated Person) who will then refer on to Children's Social Services. They will then involve the Police, is the child is believed to be at risk of harm? and carry out an assessment in company with CSS. Then if deemed to be at risk the child will be placed onto the at risk register and a strategy meeting called involving all professionals involved in the life of that child, including health professionals, education as well as the Police and CSS. Now it is my understanding all this was done then ???? who knows. Yes the CSS, Police etc; may have saved numerous children from harm, unfortunately this poor wee boy wasn't. It isn't a perfect system and there but for the grace of god. How do we learn? from experience sadly in this case, at the price of his life. However every professional I have ever met who is involved in the education, health, well being and care of a child always put the children first, but sadly in this case he slipped through the net. I think your final sentence is the most appropriate course of action.
Life with a 30 year tariff, It just doesn't seem enough. 30 years hard labour and fed just enough to be kept alive sounds better
I think the little fella was too young to attend school. I think 'pre school' is not compulosory and therefore the boy may not have been spotted bay any of the organisations. When our children were babies, there was the usual check ups post natal to make sure the baby was progressing normally but I think this attention stops after a year or so (unless a problem is identified). Then they don't get picked up again until they go to school at 5yo. This poor boy seems to have been abused in the 2 or 3 year window where the social services don't have much chance to 'look in' on him. So sad :frown:
Lets be clear tho, the last thing we want is an overreaction whereby more perceived threat is heaped on the 99% of non abusive parent to hope to catch the evil ctnus The signs were there, they were under investigation, their was another sibling who was not treated the same. This should be taken as much for what it is as what its not; evil people doing evil things for their gratification Hard labour in Poland would be the answer
It was after the very sad death of Victoria Climbie that "Lessons will be learnt" and new policies and procedures put in place. Sadly, it seems, kids are still being subjected to horrendous treatment from the ones who are meant to love and care for them.
As they have always, and will always be. Alas intelligence, wealth and social background are not easy readymade indicators of potential bad parents.
I'll bet that today, at this very moment, there is a young child somewhere in the UK being beaten, starved, burnt and neglected - we just don't know who or where. We will find out next year, when the case comes to the Coroners or to the Crown Court.
