Social services are under fire for
failing to prevent a 13-month-old boy being killed by his mother's
boyfriend - despite desperate warnings from his father in the weeks
before his death.
Slater Sharkey was repeatedly being abused by Richard Morgan, who lived with his mother Rachel Peacock.
When the toddler died in December 2010, he was covered head-to-toe in 25 bruises.
Death: Slater Sharkey died aged 13 months when he was beaten by his mother's boyfriend
His father Carl Sharkey had
complained to officials that the boy was at risk, but they told him they
had 'no concerns' for Slater and refused to investigate his care -
later saying they were distracted by strategy meetings.
It
has also emerged that Peacock took her son to a GP when he was having
trouble breathing, but ignored the doctor's advice to visit hospital to
treat the bruises on his head.
A report has criticised child welfare
agencies for failing to act on a series of warning signs, and concluded
that Slater was not 'properly safeguarded' in the 24 hours leading up
to his death.
Although Mr Sharkey contacted both social workers and police, his concerns 'do not appear to have been acted on'.
Convicted: The boy's mother Rachel Peacock,
left, was sentenced to a community order over his death, while her
boyfriend Richard Morgan, right, is serving a seven-and-a-half-year jail
term
The report found that as well
as poor communication with the victim's father, information about the
boy's welfare was recorded inaccurately.
'The
child's father, who lived with him for the first ten months of his
life, and who then cared for him overnight for the final three months of
his short life, was not visible,' it said.
'He
had to ring the social worker, rather than the other way around. He
expressed concerns to the social worker, police and the HV, but these do
not appear to have been acted on.'
A
spokeswoman for the Durham Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB)
apologised for the failures and said no one could have predicted
Slater's death
Gill
Rigg, the author of a serious case review for LSCB, said that on the day
of Slater's first birthday in November 2010 concerns had been raised
when Peacock contacted medical professionals.
Killer: Morgan was convicted of manslaughter despite trying to claim that Slater's death was an accident
She wrote: 'There were
sufficient concerns identified on that evening, and on the following day
that could and should have triggered a child protection investigation
had the totality of the information been considered at a strategy
meeting.
'Slater's mother initially said he had stopped breathing but failed to seek help for several hours.
'Slater
had a bruise on his forehead. His mother arrived at the GP surgery with
no warning, and left before the GP could complete the referral to the
hospital. She then failed to attend hospital as directed.'
Mrs
Rigg said social workers had failed to challenge medical opinions about
his injuries, and the meeting with the GP had not been recorded
properly.
Senior managers claimed they had not carried out a review of Slater's care because 'too many strategy meetings were being held'.
But
Mrs Rigg said the true explanation was 'more subtle', and a
'misunderstanding' meant senior managers had failed to properly
safeguard Slater.
Following
the review, in which Slater was referred to as 'Child R', Mrs Rigg said
the boy's death was 'not predictable' but a 'different course of
events' should have occurred in November 2010.
Fran
Gosling Thomas, chair of Durham LSCB, said the authority 'wishes to
offer its sincere condolences to family members who have been very much a
part of this review. We thank them for helping us at such a tragic
time.'
She added: 'The
review highlighted errors regarding recording of information, issues
around poor communication and a lack of robust assessment and
professional curiosity and challenge by a number of agencies.
'There
were broader issues in that Child R's father and wider family members
were not given the opportunity to contribute to assessments in relation
to Child R.'
Following a
trial at Newcastle Crown Court, Peacock, 31, was found guilty of cruelty
and sentenced to a 12-month community order by Mr Justice King.
Morgan,
who lived with Peacock in Tantobie, County Durham, claimed he had left
the baby in the living room and found him collapsed when he returned.
He was sentenced to seven and half years in prison for manslaughter after a jury found he had inflicted the fatal injuries.
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