Two year old starves to death

Mother has given an interview to The Sun. She apparently has 10 children in total, 3 by the deceased. She decided it would be better for the baby to live with his father. She kept the other two. His son has given an interview to the Mail. Dad was living in a tent on the street, met mother and moved in together. Lots to unpick I think. He was too old and in poor health to look after that little baby. Mother trying to clap back now, to the criticism she has rightfully had.
I was awake most of last night with pain in the back so spent time reading all the newspapers on line, which is how I know about this.

I did wonder what sort of mother gave the care of a two-year old to a 60 year old father in poor health, and did not check once over fourteen days to see how the child was.

A Mother with many problems?

Anniebach

A Mother with many problems?

Yes she has, but blaming her is wrong.

A Mother with many problems?

Not least having 10 children that she obviously couldn’t cope with.

Anniebach
A Mother with many problems?
Yes she has, but blaming her is wrong.

Agree rafichagran

Anniebach

Anniebach
A Mother with many problems?
Yes she has, but blaming her is wrong.

Agree rafichagran

But her blaming everyone but herself, loudly and publicly, is wrong too.

It’s not wrong when she is blaming the police, social workers for her inadequacy and then giving interviews for money! Where are her priorities? Wouldn’t you think she’d be too upset to be giving paid for interviews?

For goodness sake- those kids need to go into decent foster homes. She could have visiting rights. What sort of a system is it ?

The late father of little Bronson was 60, the mother is 43.

Bronson had several siblings, some of whom must be adults but there is no evidence that any of them bothered to see their little brother and father/step-father over Christmas and New Year. It was left to the next-door neighbour to offer some hospitality and a little Christmas cheer.

I feel very sorry indeed for the social worker who did try to locate them at various other addresses too when she got no answer at the flat.

Some people are devoid of scruples. What sort of mother has no contact with her toddler over Christmas? And I have heard nothing to suggest that she tried to contact her ex to enquire about the child before he was found dead. She is as much to blame as anybody else in this sad story.

I agree Callistomom blaming others is wrong, as I do not think the social worker is to blame and I will be interested in the outcome of the Police enquiry.

I do think the Mother is upset,bereaved, and trying to look for someone to blame. That said I dont think she deserves some of the comments on here.

nanna8

For goodness sake- those kids need to go into decent foster homes. She could have visiting rights. What sort of a system is it ?

As far as I understand it, Bronson was not the subject of a Child Protection Order but was a child in need of monthly visits to ensure his continued welfare.

I may be wrong, but that is how I understand it.

If you were the SW, rafichagran, not having had any feedback from the police when you asked them to call at the house on 2 January, would you not have chased them up rather than just calling them again when you couldn’t gain entry two days later, and then, still with no police response, waiting until 9 January to call at the house again? Knowing that the child was so vulnerable as to require a weekly visit, would you really not have done more? I would be surprised if she is exonerated by the inquiry - likewise the police,

Please do not believe whatever is written or reported in the press and the media.
The truth will come out at the inquests and public inquiry.

Our DD died suddenly age 7 months back in the 1970s. I can still remember the ambulance crew and the doctor who came to the house and the coroner who arrived two hours later. DD died of natural causes.

Four days later the local newspaper printed their once weekly load of rubbish which happened to be the Christmas edition. I picked up the paper and read ON THE FRONT PAGE - BABY FOUND DEAD IN COT - AND IT WAS A PACK OF LIES. dd had been rushed to hospital....NO.....I WAS THERE AND THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED.

Even now I would give the journalist who wrote that piece of pure invention a good telling off and some physical abuse to get the message through his/her thick skull.

Please do not believe the press and media reports about this tragic event. May they rest in peace

So easy to blame an overworked social worker who tried various ways of locating the father and little boy.

As far as I know (bearing in mind this is from media reports) this child was not the subject of a Protection Order.
Social worker visits were monthly.

chocolatepudding that must have been shocking, I am so sorry. The last thing you need is a journalist sensationalising such a tragedy with dubious stories.

There are many families such as this, living chaotic lives, where children are passed between parents and family members with social workers and other agencies trying their best to provide support and to ensure the children receive the services they need.

The threshold for care proceedings is relatively low following Baby Peter Connolly’s tragic death but even so, there are thousands more children who do not reach that threshold. The state cannot remove every child who receives less than adequate care and there are ethical questions about where the state’s powers should begin and end.

It is quite possible that care proceedings were being considered within the assessment of this family. In the usual course of events, his plan would be formulated and adapted as information was gathered. This would be scrutinised at every stage with the little boy at the heart of it. It is possible that at some stage he would be removed and placed in care.

The only thing that disrupted this process, which is a process going on for hundreds of children every day in social work offices across the country, is that his father sadly died. If not, we would never have heard of him. We need to wait for the results of the inquiry and the police watchdog investigation before assigning blame for what followed to any individual or agency.

Well said, nightowl

I’ll just add - we have no idea what the events were between the 2/1 and 9/1 or what discussions were held. The social worker may indeed have followed up her calls on 2/1 and 4/1. I have experience of making many such calls as an out of hours SW. The police may have said ‘yes we will visit but we can’t say when it will be because we are snowed under and have only two officers on duty for that area right now’, or ‘we have no availability because we are dealing with a riot where all officers are attending and are under attack with missiles’ (both true responses I received on different occasions). The social worker may have escalated this to her manager and other discussions may have been held at this level. We know that she contacted other people who knew the family and she may have also explored other avenues.

We have no idea what other cases she was dealing with at the time or what else she may have tried. As others have said, there is no indication that this child was felt to be at immediate significant risk from his father, only that both were vulnerable and that statutory visits were monthly, although he was being visited weekly. Suggestions that she could and should have done more are premature in my opinion.

Years ago a friend who was a deputy head in an impoverished area of South London talking about some of the case meetings that she had attended. I asked why these small children weren't put up for adoption and her response was that current thinking (back then) was that children should stay with their parents, if at all possible, with support from social services etc. This was back in the 80s and I don't know if it is the same now.

What is apparent is that the services are inadequate to deal with these cases because of insufficient staff which is in turn due to the austerity measures of the Tory govt.

Not just current thinking Dinahmo but enshrined in legislation - the Children Act 1989 is very clear that children should remain within their family of origin wherever possible. That means that not only parents must be assessed but also other family members who are proposed by parents or put themselves forward as potential carers.

I think you will find that the lack of staff is due to doing such a thankless task; no praise or thanks for turning out over Christmas, trailing round other addresses to find the family, contacting the police, following it up again and then being blamed by people trying to make cheap political points.

eazybee

I think you will find that the lack of staff is due to doing such a thankless task; no praise or thanks for turning out over Christmas, trailing round other addresses to find the family, contacting the police, following it up again and then being blamed by people trying to make cheap political points.

It's surprising that anyone wants to even think of social work as a profession!

A very sad case what the poor little chap and his father went through doesn't bare thinking about. Much more needs to be investigated before any assumptions can be made.