Star Hobson verdict in

[Lougle]

Savannah Brockhill Guilty of murder. Frankie Smith Guilty of causing or allowing death.

@Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas

We don't know what info that doctor had at all.

Children don’t see paediatricians for a CP medical for no reason, she went because of her injuries.

I would think a Surestart coffee morning, chat with someone knowledgeable, everyone gets to join in and listen to the talk on child rearing etc. Catch the babies young.
Surestart didn't exist when my DCs were young but somewhere to chat to and find support from experienced nurses, child carers (or whatever happened at Surestart) seems a no brainer to me. Even one morning a week . Everyone knows being at home with a small child can be frustrating and lonely

I remember someone posting once before on a thread about bad parenting that she'd moved on from a bad childhood and could now see the shallowness of the parents' lives where she grew up. No hobbies, no interesting job, no involvement in the community (like volunteering), just gossip and drinking, drugs and falling out.
I don't know what the answer is but the carrot and stick approach would be the most likely to work. Once you are in the community rather than on the periphery you'd be more likely to want to be seen as a good person with a happy child rather than a waster.

SB is a psychopath pure and simple. She chills me to the bone so goodness knows how the little girl felt around her. The fact she was smirking and laughing in court after what she had done says it all, the video of her with the little girl where she looks terrified. No amount of parenting classes would have helped here.

JeffthePilot Star saw a junior doctor we don’t know that she was examined by an experienced
Paediatrician

@Malibuismysecrethome

JeffthePilot Star saw a junior doctor we don’t know that she was examined by an experienced Paediatrician

Junior doctors are most doctors, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re inexperienced. All child protection medicals are carried out by a paediatrician, but you’re right at this point we don’t know how experienced they were. Perhaps there needs to be a change to say that any CP medicals should be carried out by two paediatricians for a second opinion - but where you’d get them from, I have no idea.

People here are utterly desperate to blame the social worker and I just don't understand why. The doctor who examined Star would have been informed of the reason she was there, for a Safeguarding medical. It was their call as to whether the injuries were accidental. If they had deemed them the result of assault, she would likely be alive right now.
A wrong judgment call they will have to live with for life

People hate social workers , that's so clear. I haven't seen a single person baying for the doctor (or police officers for that matter) to be named, shamed, convicted, whatever. And then you wonder why no one wants to do the job anymore.

@wherethewildthingis

People here are utterly desperate to blame the social worker and I just don't understand why. The doctor who examined Star would have been informed of the reason she was there, for a Safeguarding medical. It was their call as to whether the injuries were accidental. If they had deemed them the result of assault, she would likely be alive right now. A wrong judgment call they will have to live with for life People hate social workers , that's so clear. I haven't seen a single person baying for the doctor (or police officers for that matter) to be named, shamed, convicted, whatever. And then you wonder why no one wants to do the job anymore.

Nobody hates sw. could easily be reframed as "people are so desperate to defend them [because they are one]."

Generally, they do their job fine. We can't quantify the number of children saved from being murdered because it's not possible to see alternate realities- but I'm sure they've saved many children by taking them into care

They sometimes get it wrong whether through negligence or bureaucracy or whatever. I'm sure they could've gone more in some capacity.

Yes, it's ridiculous. Short of staff, underfunded - let's start with the tax payers who need to pay more and the government who need to spend better. The need to blame someone is immature I think, people want someone held culpable so they can feel better, 1-2 children die a week - should we sack a couple of social workers a week then so complainers feel happier?

I am wondering if there won't end up being some sort of vigilante actions groups for this sort of thing like there are for predators, soon. I've heard talk of such things, not that it would help (probably).

I think social workers do their very best and of course we only hear of their failures and not their merits. They're massively overworked and the government have no intention of changing that.

Child Protection needs an overhaul in terms of the sorts of people it attracts at least much of the time IMO.

It needs to attract the same sorts the police force aims for, rather than those who just care a lot about children. I know a lot of social workers are fearless, assertive and determined. It needs more of that than those who are more veered toward being caring and helpful.

I agree whoever examined Star's injuries, rightly or wrongly, has blood on their hands. I could not live with myself if I were them :(

I agree that “fearless, assertive and determined” are ideal characteristics.

I did meet a few social workers a while back regarding some dcs in the school where I worked. Unfortunately they were too young for the responsibility (everyone starts somewhere but perhaps lack of staff leads to over-promotion) and were too, er, down wid de kidz . This led to complete lack of respect from the kids and their families. The best sw was an old guy with a walking stick and a ponytail - no one said boo to him!

This thread has been very educational and I’m grateful to the SWs who contributed and apologise for my comments earlier in the thread. The conditions you are working under are a disgrace.

Yes, you do need to be fearless, assertive and determined. And also empathetic, approachable, supportive and kind. And you need to listen to some appallingly upsetting things without shedding a tear, at least publicly. But you also need to care enough not to be hard and unaffected. And, oh, you need to know when to be each of these things. One thing I’ll say about the job is it’s never boring…

Sb wanted to to share her hardness and make star hard like her.
Doing her a favour? Rasing her?
Getting her ready for tough life...

She proudly said she was raising her as her own?
She wanted star buried her her grandma???

It's nothing in the great scheme of things but I do wonder why they considered changing star's name (to Mary Kate, was it)?

@JeffThePilot

Yes, you do need to be fearless, assertive and determined. And also empathetic, approachable, supportive and kind. And you need to listen to some appallingly upsetting things without shedding a tear, at least publicly. But you also need to care enough not to be hard and unaffected. And, oh, you need to know when to be each of these things. One thing I’ll say about the job is it’s never boring…

i can imagine! :( What a difficult and taxing job.

(Most) CP Social Workers do have my utmost respect.

I was involved with some in one of the most underfunded areas of the country, a few years ago and honestly, some of them I could have strung up for their incompetence. Sorry-just so disorganised and slack but each time I reference this I always say BUT they must have been exhausted. Not sure if I am trying to placate, but that job has to be so, so hard.

The best one, was a bloke. Lovely, kind, approachable, nerves of steel and no nonsense. We need more of that and less of those easily intimidated. It's a profession that attracts women, kind, caring ones. I feel anti-feminist here but I think given how much male violence toward children there is, more men would be helpful.

in case anyone has missed this: the mother's sentence has been referred to appealer being too lenient:

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/12/star-hobson-killing-mothers-sentence-referred-to-court-of-appeal

I really hope they increase it...

*referred to court of appeal

I hope it is increased too far too short ,I think the most they can give on her charge is14 years and she would do only two thirds of that

Does anyone know if the report has come out? They said they’d have a report published in January looking into what happened to prevent it in future. The “to call social services” AIBU has reminded me of this, and I want to be part of keeping up the public pressure on addressing it.

I hadn’t wanted to comment on the case itself but as I’m posting now I’ll say I find it hard to see what they can do, services assume children are best with their mum - having it otherwise could lead to abuse and control of women by exes. I also wonder why Frankie’s defence didn’t make a point of her PND as well as her IQ. The accounts of Star being in a dirty dog-faeces car on hot nights was awful - how could anyone say they’re caring and keep a baby in that situation. I usually avoid the news and don’t seek it out but ended up reading the transcripts at Christmas because the videos of Star dancing on mainstream TV (so it was showing when I switched it on) were exactly like my baby.

The anxious part of me wonders if these stories about children dying are being headline news as Preeti Patel is pro the death sentence, and it’s a good way to build support for it as seen on this thread. People are vengeful, but you don’t see calls for education, more mums groups which show from peers what’s normal and loving for those from dysfunctional backgrounds, more childcare for under 3yo - in fact threads about why should there even be 30hrs if you’re not working. It’s a good way to have children be visible and be seen by society.

I do not think the report has come out as it would be on the news and we are still waiting for a review of the mothers sentence. It is the first I have heard of her having PMD so do not know where you got that information. Even if true it is no excuse for abusing her child and allowing her partner to do the same. As I have said above I really hope she gets a longer sentence. If there were more mums groups there is no guarantee those in need of them would go.

There’s a BBC article today with a direct link to the report www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-60376229

The report is dated January 2022 “Report on the options for Children’s Services in the city of Bradford Metropolitan District
Council Report to the Secretary of State for Education”assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1053781/Bradford_Commissioners_Report.pdf

That report is separate to the one specifically related to Star Hobson’s death. The report that’s linked in the bbc article says

“ During the period of my review a trial into the tragic death of a sixteen-month-old child, Star Hobson, who died on 22 September 2020, took place. At its conclusion Star's mother, Frankie Smith, was sentenced to eight years for causing or allowing her death. Star’s mother’s partner, Savannah Brockhill, was jailed for a minimum of 25 years for murder. Their case will be examined under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.
The Bradford Safeguarding partnership had commissioned a Local Safeguarding Practice Review into Star’s death. The local Bradford partnership and the National Panel have recently agreed that Star Hobson’s review should be carried out by the National Panel. The national review will therefore be a review into both Arthur Labinjo- Hughes’ and Star Hobson’s deaths. This will help ensure that alongside local-specific recommendations, there is a high-quality and coherent set of recommendations for central government so that we can better protect children in the future.
I am confident that the National Panel’s review will be robust, vigorous and thorough.”

To those who have been waiting: Frankie's sentence has been increased to 12 years.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-60752118

Good news, she failed her child.

she will be out in 5 not long enough