Little Arthur

I keep getting those images of him struggling with his duvet, and his little Avenger pillow in my mind, so cold, hungry, thirsty, lonely and terrified, feeling so unloved
I know we can't help him, he's beyond our help, but there is something his family, who claim to love him, can do -
why oh why can they not give him his peace, hold his funeral, let his poor little body rest and set his Soul free, he suffered so much torture to his little body and mind, why torture his Soul by leaving him to lie alone in a dark, cold mortuary for 18 months
I just cannot bear this

I feel so sorry for that grandmother as she tried her utmost to help this poor little boy. His father had custody of him so she had to return him. It would have needed a court order for her be able to refuse to return him. Like many other people, this case has deeply upset me. The fact that that child knew what these two monsters were trying to do to him, his cries for help that no one heard are just appalling. Such wickedness is beyond comprehension.

Tom16. Only the stepcreature was guilty of murder and she has been given a life sentence. She may be kept in much longer than 29 years but the judge has set a minimum amount. All this means is that she can’t think about or be considered for parole until she’s served 29 yrs.

He was guilty of manslaughter as he wasn’t there when she killed him. He received 21 years. He will be eligible for parole much earlier. Doesn’t mean he’ll get it but it’s unlikely he’ll serve the full 21 yrs.

nananet01

Has anyone thought about her children? She has 4, God help them.
They were prob encouraged to hurt him too, what kind of adults will they become

2 of them were taken into care years ago apparently, and the younger two were raised, fed, cared for, while she was abusing Arthur. The 5th one which she was expecting was aborted apparently, at 21 weeks, while she was on remand.

Germanshepherdsmum

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

no they were not. His father and his Father's girlfriend are responsible.

The father and stepmother caused Arthur’s death but the police and social workers are responsible for his death and need to be accountable.

There is a photo of Arthur on the front of some of the papers today looking clean and cared for, with his cute backpack. He is beaming all over his gorgeous face.

I didn' t catch his name, but there was a man being interviewed on R4 this morning who had been involved with similar reviews and inquiries in the past, and he said that the problem was years and years of cuts of budgets, so that we are now at the situation where SS are only able to deal with crisis, not prevention. I am angered by the hypocrisy and hand wringing of tabloids such as the DM over this tragedy; remember these are the very publications which demonise Social workers as 'heavy handed' and 'terrorising innocent parents'. This case is dreadful and the treatment and subsequent murder of Arthur is truly heartbreaking, and people are rightly asking why and how it happened, but remember, we do not read about the hundreds and thousands of cases where social workers have prevented similar tragedies, where they have intervened. Demonising social workers who are already dealing day in day out with situations which would shock and sicken the rest of us doesn't help anyone.

Thank you GillT57. Your post sets out the situation well

No this is excuses again!! This is not because of cuts. It’s ineptitude and incompetence from the top down. Social Services stubbornly refuse to change their practices. They put the rights of parents, political correctness and cultural mores above the rights of children and are never held to account.

The sw that visited was inept but that’s just one cog in a very big malfunctioning machine.

Whereas, this horrific case has been high profile, there are, on average, one child each week killed by parents/carers or someone close to them. Every few years one specific case seems to hit the headlines, and following careful study - there are some changes in the law and the promise of 'lessons will be learned'. Sadly, the figures hardly change!!

In addition to those that actually die, there are many more who suffer long term life changing physical results.

I am always so bemused at the so-called 'stranger danger' when death and injury to children is nearly always by someone very close to them.

Until we are all willing to pay more via our taxes to ensure that Social Services have both the people and the resources to do their jobs properly, these figures will continue and no amount of tears by posters on here are very useful.

Sadly it sounds as though the parents hoodwinked the social workers and this was the tragic outcome. An acquaintance was a social worker but now retired and she said that the older workers were being encouraged to retire in order to save leaving only younger, inexperienced staff. I agree with GillT57's last sentence that we shouldn't demonise social workers as most of us probably couldn't cope with their workload.

I understand the local MP is referring the sentence to the Attorney General as being "unduly lenient". Hopefully the sentences will be increased to ensure they never leave prison. I sincerely hope that lessons really will be learned. It seems they are always encouraged to leave the children with family - in the case of worries concerning abuse would it not be advisable to remove the child to a place of safety for a set amount of time when he or she can be tactfully questioned by experts.

Arthur's father was as guilty as the creature that murdered him. He clearly condoned and took part in the appalling treatment handed out to that helpless little boy. He was his natural father for Gods sake, how could he go along with this terrible abuse? He is on record as wishing the child dead! Imo he deserves as much if not more than the actual killer.

Did anyone hear Any Answers this afternoon? The entire programme was taken up with calls from people involved with child welfare - social workers, a vicar, a retired policeman who had worked with child cases and now still works in the same but in a different role.

The consensus appeared to be the reporting system was in desperate need of an overhaul. Apparently if parents find that the social worker is reporting them they will complain about that worker and a different one will be appointed. They have too many cases and not enough time to deal with them. These parents are clever at evading the system.

Furthermore the workload is so great that many leave and those that move up the management scale often don't have much experience of field work. They all said that they often worked until 8 or 9 o'clock at night.

I remember many years ago, not long after Victoria Climbie discussing such cases with a friend who was a deputy head of a South London primary school. She was often involved in multi agency case conferences. I asked why the children weren't just taken away immediately and her response was that families should be kept together and very effort made to ensure that this happens - family support etc etc. But, if they were taken away what would happen to them? From what we hear childrens' homes are not always a secure haven.

There was a reference on one of the threads yesterday to ‘do gooders ’. I think that phrase would fit the people trying to keep families together when there is clear evidence of cruelty to children. Heads in the clouds - until they’re involved in an ending like this. I agree that children’s homes aren’t ideal, and there have certainly been some horror stories. It’s a crying shame that there is a shortage of foster homes and that adoption seems to be incredibly difficult.

“Do gooders”, what on earth is that supposed to mean in the case of this little boy?
Yes residential care isn’t the best option for any child. Yes there’s a shortage of foster and adoptive parents.
This is t the place to detail the emotional and behavioural difficulties so many children in care have

I agree wholeheartedly with tickinbird's comments. No excuses. Things need to change and fast.

(This is nothing to do with this case, but I remember so well when I was doing my degree, we did research into the Probation Service, and I cannot remember what era it was now but it was exactly the same attitude, the Probation Service vehemently refusing to recognise that changes were necessary).

I just hope this turns out differently and Social Services and other Agencies involved see things need to change. Unfortunately, the lovely sweet little Arthur is gone. Heartbreakingly sad.

Please read my post again Iam. It talks of those intent on keeping families together even when there is cruelty to the children. I have no knowledge of that being the case with Arthur.

GillT57 Oliver Dowden was on TV Friday morning claiming that the govt had just announced £300 million for Social Services. But they have cut £1.7 billion from the budget since 2010. The govt can't or won't find the money for such an essential service but could find £37 billion for Dido Harding's useless test and trace.

Why on earth is anybody still voting for the Tories?

This case may have hit the headlines but we should remember the other children who have suffered, apparently 28 die every year by the hands of their carers, which is more than one a week. Only a short while ago a young black woman went partying for three or four days leaving her toddler ALONE to die of starvation. Some people seem to have no understanding or empathy for helpless children at all.

While funding is clearly a problem, Social Services do have a habit of announcing some guiding principle and then applying it to every case regardless.

With children it is a blind belief that familys should be kept together, no matter what. Even if that is the case, this does not mean that the child/ren cannot be removed from the home on a temporary basis and what does it say about our Social Services that someone can effectively write that it is better to leave a child in an abusive home because the care home expereine could be even nore damaging!

There are too many stories of children not taken from homes and found new families until they are so damaged emotionally that they are damaged for life and where loving and determined adoptive families have to retun these children to specialised care because they are so disruptive.

We get the same with the elderly, with a blanket belief that older people are happier staying at home. Even if it means being stuck in a chair alone all day wearing nappies because they cannot take themselves to the toilet, and with carers rushing in for 15 minutes three times a day.

Well said Monica. Also to all the Tory bashers please stick to the political threads if that’s all you can contribute to this thread.

Social Services performed exactly the same under a Labour government so please just leave politics out of this one.

Germanshepherdsmum

Please read my post again Iam. It talks of those intent on keeping families together even when there is cruelty to the children. I have no knowledge of that being the case with Arthur.

I’ve re-read germanshepherd’s mum, apologies for attributing the quote to you.

Tickingbird, IMO It’s impossible to discuss the devastation of public services that contribute to the difficulties in child protection without acknowledging the impact of severe cuts to all the agencies involved,

MOnica, I agree with your concerns that some share the belief that children must remain in their families no matter what. It’s also clear that investigation, work towards change and decision making for children must be in the child’s timescale. That needs well trained, highly skilled, experienced social workers. They need clinical supervision and to work closely with health visitors, midwives, teachers, police, community drug/alcohol workers to name a few. In the 80’s and 90’s thst model of working was being developed in some l.a. areas. Then came austerity.
I’m not disputing that poor decision making is central when things go horribly wrong.