Little Arthur

I have cried so many tears over the last 24hrs thinking about what that poor little boy went through.
We have safeguarding lectures at work to make us aware of the ‘signs’.
But what’s the point if concerns are not taken seriously? What can we do to protect these innocent children?
I really don’t think any news article has affected me as much as this has

My only dealing with social services was over the care of 2 elderly relatives.

I found them endlessly prepared to talk on the phone, all day if necessary, but DO anything, you must be joking. They would not visit because the part of the council area they lived in was too far from their office (20 miles). I was sometimes doing the journey twice a day. Every one requiring hospital treatment in that area was taken to a hospital 5 miles away in the next Council area - they would not visit there as it was 'out of county'.

I could go on. I made an official complaint and drove it quite away before obfuscation and endless delays meant I gave up.

I am sure there are good and effective social workers, but too few.

My only dealing with social services was over the care of 2 relatives.

I found them endlessly prepared to talk on the phone, all day if necessary, but DO anything, you must be joking. They would not visit because the part of the council area they lived in was too far from their office (20 miles). I was sometimes doing the journey twice a day. Every one requiring hospital treatment in that area was taken to a hospital 5 miles away in the next Council area - they would not visit there as it was 'out of county'.

I could go on. I made an official complaint and drove it quite away before obfuscation and endless delays meant I gave up.

I am sure there are good and effective social workers, but too few.

It doesnt fit mine either and I have spent 30 years in childrens services in one form or other.

How many more innocents have to suffer before LESSONS are learned.

From reports, Arthur's biological mother sounded as if she was a well-educated, intelligent young woman until she met Hughes and drink and drugs took hold of her.

I think they should put the step mother in the same cell as the biological mother, who is locked up for stabbing and murdering her partner. I'm sure she would like to meet her!

I have read a great deal about what has been reported about this case this evening.
What you have said nanenet01 resonates with what I also think.
There is so much to this, so much incompetence, it is difficult to even understand tbh and very very hard to believe could happen.
Bless little Arthur I wish someone had gone in and taken him away from them. God rest his soul

It is heartbreaking. How could anyone be so evil, poor little soul. I can’t understand how this happened especially after Baby P a few years ago. Too awful for words. I hope they get what is coming to them in prison, may they rot there.

Perhaps mine was earlier than yours - 1970s.

Germanshepherdsmum I simply do not recognise the scenario you describe. I have no illusions, I know there are faults in the systems and I know there is poor practice, as there is in any profession, but what you describe really doesn’t fit with my own experience.

Trouble is nightowl, it’s always someone else’s responsibility, above my pay grade, I’ve passed it to my manager etc etc. Never anyone’s fault. I worked with it and couldn’t stand the mentality. Part of the reason they have so many files to deal with is that they don’t actually deal with any of them, just shuffle the pile, have another case conference and hey, it’s time to go home! As I said, I worked with it on the legal side until the mentality drove me into private practice where action, not file shuffling, is required.

I’m not defending her appointment or the department Monica. I don’t know enough about either to have a view. I’m not actually defending anyone, just giving some information from a personal viewpoint about what day to day social work is (or used to be) like.

I’ll read the serious case review as I always do, and once more thank my lucky stars this wasn’t me, or any child I knew and cared about.

Germanshepherdsmum

I worked with child social workers in the early years of my career. Bloody useless in the face of harrowing cases. Endless case conferences going round in circles with no decisions made. Naming might instil responsibility.

I suppose a public lynching might be even better

nightowl look at the pedigree of the head of social services in Salford, details above.

How can anyone defend her appointment and the clearly disfunctional department she ran.?

That little boy asked to see a doctor, such a grown up equest
He told his uncle his father was going to kill him, how could he even begin to process that in his 6 year-old mind
6 little years, trying so hard to get help but nobody was hearing him
Crying out for his grandmother, his uncle
Why didn't the uncle or grandmother go in anyway and remove him, ok, they would be arrested-but that would have exposed the terrible truth surely
The parents probably bribed him with lies that (one) day they let him play in the garden (to hoodwink the SS) with false promises of more days like that, and, wanting to believe they did love him, that poor little boy did what they told him too, wanting to please them and for the hurt to stop
It's unbearable
The cruelty, manipulation, the deliberate, terrible abuse and breaking of all possible between a parent and their child
No punishment will take back what happened to Arthur, what he suffered, his horrible and terrifying death, and he must have known, trying to understand, in his little mind, knowing he was going to die, alone and terrified
It's too much to bear
It's traumatised everyone who has had to deal with it, not just us as the public

I worked with child social workers in the early years of my career. Bloody useless in the face of harrowing cases. Endless case conferences going round in circles with no decisions made. Naming might instil responsibility.

Germanshepherdsmum

It’s right to name them. They are responsible for what happened.

Judge and jury Germanshepherdsmum ? Are you privy to the discussions that took place after their visit, or the decision made by their manager? Because I can assure you that social workers do not make decisions about further action in these cases.

The social worker in the Peter Connelly case received death threats and had to go into hiding. Would you feel better if that happened to these workers as well?

The DM has an extensive analysis of this case today. Innumerable family and friends had referred him to social services who had either ignored them or dismissed their concerns.

The head of Social Services was given the job AFTER having been dismissed from a similar role in another council because the department was so badly run.

As they say , if someone made that up you would say it was ridiculous, but someone did not make that up, it was whaat actually happened.

I am not usually a vindictive person, but in this case I would like to see the child's step mother and father made to suffer the same tortures and humiliations they made Arthur suffer and for just as long, if not longer.

The fathers mother reported him, she couldn’t stop it, if anyone had doubts about abuse you don’t give up, the social workers were hoodwinked, the people responsible are the evil pair and I hope they don’t see the light of day and get a hard time. If anyone thinks anyone is being abused persist, don’t give up, visit when not expected, call the police any doubts. That poor child had no voice.

The jury have been told they will never have to serve on a jury again as it was so harrowing. I read they asked for 1 minute’s silence in court for Arthur. Poor little boy.

The Rotherham Abuse was ignored for years, no lockdown then.

It’s right to name them. They are responsible for what happened.

Chestnut

We all realise social services are struggling but even when the alarm is raised there seems to be no action taken. Surely when they are alerted to abuse those children should take priority over everything else. Or are we saying each social worker has dozens of abused children on their books?

I have been out of front line child protection for 9 years so I can’t really comment with authority, but even 9 years ago we were simply ‘firefighting’ - dealing with referral after referral with no time to reflect or prioritise properly. I can only imagine things have got worse since then, with cuts year on year.

That is no excuse - there can be no excuse - but social workers are human and this kind of practice cannot be sustained without a cost to the individual. Again, I’m not making excuses, if mistakes were made they need to be acknowledged and explained, but was there really a need to name the social worker and support worker who visited little Arthur shortly before he died? What does that achieve other than to allow us all to place blame, oh and possibly to make them targets for some kind of retribution. Is that what we want?

I felt very miserable when the lockdown started because I knew this would heighten tensions in cramped households, which in some cases would lead to abuse of babies and small children. I didn't even want to think about all the little ones locked up with angry, frustrated parents. It was too much to take in and there was absolutely nothing I could do. Some people should not have children at all.