@Elizadoloads the police did do welfare checks. They were involved. They referred to SS.
Frankie Smith met Savannah Brockhill around October 2019. Savannah was 26 years old and worked as a security guard. We now know that Savannah had a history
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of domestic abuse with a previous partner and was made subject to a Restraining Order in 2015. There are consistent reports from family and friends about the change in Star after Frankie began her relationship with Savannah. There were also reports that Frankie was seen with bruises, possibly caused by Savannah, and that Savannah seemed to be controlling her. This control included restricting Star’s contact with other family members.
6.6 In January 2020 a domestic abuse organisation was working with a friend of the family who often looked after Star. The friend was worried about abuse in Frankie’s relationship with Savannah and Savannah’s physical chastisement of Star. Following a written referral, the police made a welfare check and a social worker completed a child and family assessment, having seen Star at a home visit. The final assessment did not report any child protection concerns. The main need identified for Star was accommodation for her and Frankie. A letter was sent to the Housing Department and the case was closed to children’s social care.
6.7 Meanwhile, family members describe Star in February 2020 as looking sad and depressed. Around this time Frankie asked Star’s great grandmother to look after her as she could not cope after Savannah had ended the relationship with her. When Star arrived at her great grandmother’s home, she had very bad nappy rash but soon began to thrive and become happy and content. She was able to crawl and walk around the furniture, was inquisitive, good fun and loved bath times. Star stayed with her great grandparents until April 2020 when, without any prior warning or discussion, Frankie removed Star from their care at the point when the relationship with Savannah resumed. Frankie and Star went back to live at Star’s grandmother’s house and Frankie stopped all contact with Star’s great grandparents. Paternal grandparents saw Star for the last time in March 2020, after which point they were also denied contact.
6.8 During May 2020, family members became increasingly concerned about the way that Savannah was treating Star. Star’s great grandmother made a referral to children’s social care on 4th May 2020 which resulted in an unannounced visit the next day. Frankie told the social worker that she felt the referral was malicious as Star’s great grandmother did not approve of same sex relationships. No visible injuries were seen, Star’s grandmother said she had no concerns and agreed to supervise contact between Star, Savannah and Frankie for the duration of the assessment.
6.9 On Sunday 21st June 2020 Star’s father contacted the Emergency Duty Team to say that he wanted to send some pictures of bruising on Star’s face that had been sent to him by a relative of Star. He was given the contact details of the allocated social worker and advised to call 101 which he did. A police officer spoke to Star’s
grandmother and another relative of Star at their home and then visited Star and Frankie, who had moved to live at Savannah’s home. The police officer observed three bruises to Star’s face which Frankie said had been caused by Star banging her head into a coffee table. Alerted by the police officer (who was concerned that accounts of how the bruising occurred were not consistent), the Emergency Duty Team and police safeguarding team agreed that a Child Protection Medical was needed. The medical examination was conducted the same day and concluded that the injuries were consistent with the explanation that Star’s mother had given of an accidental injury. Star was discharged from hospital into the care of her mother.
6.10 After the medical the single agency child and family assessment was completed and the case closed on 8th July 2020 with a note that the concerns were unsubstantiated and the original referral from great grandmother was recorded as malicious.
6.11 Meanwhile on 29th June 2020, Frankie informed the homeless partnership that she had been living with her partner for a month and had to leave and was therefore homeless. She was offered accommodation by a social housing project and moved with Star into her flat on 3rd July. Savannah remained a regular visitor to the home.
6.12 On 27th August 2020 Star was being looked after by a family friend. Another friend of the family was there and noticed bruises to her face which looked like finger marks. The friend took a video and sent it the next day to Star’s uncle. He shared the video with Star’s maternal great grandfather. Star’s father also saw a copy of the video and contacted the police on 31st August. The police tried to visit the home but were told that Star was with Frankie and Savannah in Scotland. The next day (1st September) Frankie called the GP to say that Star had sustained a cut lip when falling off cobbled steps and it was “swollen, oozing red and green stuff and split open.” The GP surgery was about to close for the day and the GP asked Frankie to call NHS 111. A safeguarding note was entered on the file. A health visitor was asked to make contact with Frankie routinely to deliver accident prevention advice.
6.13 On Tuesday 2nd September 2020 Star’s great grandfather contacted children’s social care as he had now seen the video of the bruises. The Integrated Front Door20 provided maternal grandfather with an email address to send in a copy of the video. A social worker in the IFD contacted Frankie, who said she had already contacted her previous social worker to say that Star had bruised herself falling downstairs. This call to the social worker was because her grandmother said she was going to inform children’s social care of the bruises seen on the video. Frankie said that she had also contacted her GP, who, as the surgery was about to close for the evening, had advised a call to 111 if she had concerns.
20 The Integrated Front Door (IFD) in Bradford is the service which receives contacts and referrals to children’s social care. In some areas, this is referred to as a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).
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6.14 The social worker in the IFD reviewed the previous case records, noting that this was the second time that Star had fallen, and there seemed to be a pattern. The social worker also checked the health records, which indicated that Frankie had not followed up the advice to call 111. As the bruising to Star had not been seen by a medical professional it was decided that a social worker should undertake a home visit to assess whether there was appropriate supervision by Star’s mother, and to address the numerous concerns raised by family members, some of which had previously been deemed to be malicious. The IFD contacted Frankie to arrange a home visit. Frankie told them that they were leaving at 4pm that day for a family holiday in Scotland and would be returning on Friday 4th September. The home visit was deferred until that date. Frankie told the IFD social worker that she was happy for the visit to take place at any time on the Friday. No specific time was set for the visit.
6.15 On 3rd September 2020 the GP, having seen that Frankie had not called 111, called her and offered a face-to-face appointment. Frankie said this was not possible as they were in Scotland. A booked call was arranged for the following morning and a face-to-face appointment for the afternoon.
6.16 On 4th September at 9.20am Frankie was called by the GP. She reported that Star’s lip injury was now healing and declined the face-to-face appointment booked for that afternoon.
6.17 At 11am, the social worker visited Star, Frankie and Savannah at Frankie’s home address. The social worker did not have a copy of the video showing the bruising to Star that had prompted maternal great grandfather’s concerns or the photo of bruising that had been sent to the police. The social worker noted that the home was clean, warm and tidy and there was a “good attachment” between Frankie and Star. Frankie “happily stripped Star” and bruises were seen but perceived to be consistent with normal bruising. The referral was once again deemed to be malicious and concerns were not substantiated.
6.18 At 17.25 on 4th September Frankie rang the GP because she had noticed blisters on Star’s tongue, something she had forgotten to mention in the call to the GP that morning.
6.19 The GP offered to see Star immediately. Frankie advised that this was not possible as they were in the car on the way to Doncaster. The GP told her they must access an emergency appointment at Doncaster and advised Frankie to ring NHS 111 to arrange this.
6.20 From early September 2020 it is clear that Frankie Smith and Savannah Brockhill acted to prevent professionals and family members from coming into contact with Star. A GP called Frankie on 7th September and she said that Star was now back to normal. After this, no professional saw Star or had contact with Frankie Smith before Star’s murder on 22nd September 2020.
Here's a fairly comprehensive timeline and all the agencies involved and reports made.