17.09.13
Daniel Pelka serious case review – multiple failings by authorities
The LGA has said that today’s serious case review into the death of four-year-old Daniel Pelka “lays down a challenge to social services, the police, schools, health professionals and the wider community to review, and where necessary improve, the way we identify and deal with the heinous crimes of neglect and abuse”.
Cllr David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA’s children and young people board, was responding to the publication today of the report criticising the police, teachers and care workers for failing to protect Daniel, who was tortured and starved by his mother and her partner. Magdelena Luczak, 27, and Mariusz Krezolek, 34, were jailed for life earlier this year for murder.
The serious case review says key agencies failed to share information about the case, and professionals were too readily taken in by his mother’s lies.
Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council, said: “Daniel was murdered by the two people who should have loved and protected him most, but all organisations in Coventry involved in Daniel’s short life now have to face up to their responsibilities and the part they played in the missed opportunities that could have protected Daniel. We are sorry we did not do enough to protect Daniel.”
The report says that the boy appeared ‘invisible’ to the authorities, who “demonstrated a failure of the most basic aspect of child protection work”. A midwife with serious concerns was persuaded by a social worker not to refer the case to the children’s services at Coventry City Council, for example. Teachers saw Daniel scavenge for food from bins, and police received 26 reports of domestic abuse at his home, but no-one got to the bottom of what was going on in time to save his life.
Cllr Simmonds said: “The clear message is that everyone has a part to play in keeping children safe. The collective aim must be to create a culture of moral responsibility in which people know how to raise the alarm and feel confident that if they come forward with legitimate concerns those concerns will be dealt with in a swift, proportionate and effective way.
"The proposed change in the law to strengthen the legal responsibility to report suspected abuse may be one element of driving the necessary cultural change. It is vitally important that social services resources are used effectively and we have to be sure that any reform does not have unintended consequences, such as overloading the system with cases where the child is clearly not in danger of abuse or neglect. We must avoid creating a situation where the social care system is swamped with unnecessary referrals because professionals lack the courage or confidence to take responsibility, exercise their judgement and act appropriately.”
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(Picture of Daniel Pelka: West Midlands Police/PA Archive/Press Association Images)