4 year old starved to death by his parents

[SquidgyMummy]

Horrendous Story

What i can't understand is why all the people who could have helped him: Teachers, school nurse, doctors etc could not see he was being mistreated. My 2 1/ year old weighs more than that poor child when he died.
I am just sickened by his needless death and the hand wringing "if only's" by the other adults who should have protected him

From yesterday's/today's reporting, the mother's partner seems to be trying to get out of the murder charge by blaming her, presumably she will in turn try to blame him when she takes the stand herself

Absolutely horrendous details still coming out, I'm trying to follow the case but did have to stop reading the reports for a bit because I was dwelling on them all the time. Poor little boy.

The testimony from Daniel's sibling is also absolutely heartbreaking. I hope he or she gets all the help and love that they need. What an astonishingly brave child.

It is very disturbing that we live in a society where the only person able to realise that this child was starving and take the appropriate action : provide him food was another child.

I cannot get my head round the teacher locking the food away from him or asking him to hand the food back if they caught him or explaining to him that eating spoilt food from the bins was wrong without offering him plentiful of food. How could they just wonder he was suffering from an eating disorder without discerning starvation? When you see a homeless ramaging through the dustbins for leftovers do you seriously wonder is this person suffering from an eating disorder? The abusers parents must have been laughing to hear that the boy was punished or saw the food being locked away.

Why did the teachers not call an ambulance when they noticed that his mouth was dry when he tried to eat the dry kidney bean? This is a sign of serious dehydratation. Obviously primary school teachers do need some serious training in child protection. I am starting to wonder how safe my own 4 years old child is at school and how able the school would be to deal in case of a vital emergency.

I cannot understand either how could the pediatrician just believe the parents that this boy was suffering from a worm infestation. Seriously he would not be that underweight off the chart if it had been the case. And surely he should have asked to see the boy again every week to check that he was regaining weight.

This child protection system is failing. What the point of those referral to social services when all it can achieve is a visit to the home of the abusers asking them to tell their web of lies to cover up the facts? This case should call for a reform of the system to allow people in contact with a child in danger to take action themselves take the child to A&E etc...

Elisa you are so right. Very very well said. ... written tp my mp requesting she attend this : www.actionforchildren.org.uk/campaigns/tackling-child-neglect/changing-the-law
There are too many people in child protection saying they cant take action for this reason and the other and a lack of gumption and courage by some to speak out for children. This is their job This needs to change. Im so tired of hearing all of the excuses
... There is a lack of accountability by some. Its often about passing the buck. Parents needs are also often seemingly prioritised over children's wellbeing, with parents treated as clients or their relationship valued over ensuring that a child is safe and protected from harm

Elisa you just said everything that was in my heart, and I thought it would explode from "not understanding". Those who just watch but don't act as guilty as those who did it....how many children before lessons are learnt?????

The teaching assistant involved has since left the school which says volumes. I would bet my bottom dollar that she is pretty traumatised

i just cant get this story out of my head. I know full well atrocities go on every day, ever second. But the fact that neighbours, teachers, doctors did not stop this saddens me so much. This was PREVENTABle

I also cant stop thinking about his siblings, and wonder why just him?

fromparis, I think it's not uncommon for evil parents to single out one child to be the victim, while treating other siblings less unkindly. Although I don't imagine they were great parents to Daniel's siblings either, tbh.

Scapegoating a child isn't unheard of. I also wonder whether poor Daniel may have had some undiagnosed SN. The number of strangers and family members who have told us that they could cure my DS of his austistic meltdowns is phenomenal. My son wouldn't back down with the entire British army bearing down on him! DH and I have to be the adults when it comes to confrontation and diffuse it rather than escalating it. Stupid and weak and immature people might want to prove a point. I have been told by several professionals that yes my DS would starve if we didn't give him the food he CAN tolerate as opposed to a fussy child who will eat within hours or a day for example. DS is bloody challenging but we can remain patient with his chronic sleeplessness, food refusal, still being in nappies aged six because he is ours, and we adore him and we're not thick or selfish.

I thought the same audrina, maybe thats why he was victimised so much by them??

I am deeply saddened and shocked at the cruelty and pain suffered by Daniel Pelka as he starved in full view of his primary school teachers (who also noticed bruises on his body) before he was killed.

I find it utterly incomprehensible that no one helped him. It has been clearly evidenced in court that teachers recognised his lunch box was meagre, that he was eating anything he could forage (including dirty scraps from bins), that he couldn?t keep his hands off other children?s lunches and that he was seriously losing weight so that his clothes hung off him - and yet the only thing they did was to lock up the other children?s food to prevent him from stealing the food he so desperately needed.

Where was the ?duty of care??

What has gone so terribly wrong with our society that this could happen?

Why is this fundamental issue not highlighted more clearly in the court case and in press coverage?

How can we ensure that adults with a duty of care come to the aid of vulnerable children, in this case to the aid of a child who could be seen to be literally struggling to survive?

If ?duty of care? is a legal requirement, then where is the accountability? If ?duty of care? is not a legal requirement, then it should be - as it is in France and other civilised countries (see below).

Adults should have a legal obligation as well as a moral obligation to look out for, protect and safeguard the wellbeing of children in their care or sphere.

I am petitioning my MP for change in the law and will be launching a supporting web campaign. Will you stand with me, mumsnet? Will you be speaking out to help protect vulnerable children in the future - will there be justice for Daniel?

Paula

Duty of Care appendix notes
Parents have a duty to rescue their minor children. This duty also applies to those acting in loco parentis, such as schools or babysitters
Criminal law [edit]
In some countries, there exists a legal requirement for citizens to assist people in distress, unless doing so would put themselves or others in harm's way. Citizens are often required to, at minimum, call the local emergency number, unless doing so would be harmful, in which case the authorities should be contacted when the harmful situation has been removed. As of 2012, there were such laws in countries, including[1] Albania, Andorra,[24] Argentina,[25] Austria,[26] Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia,[27] Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France,[28] Germany,[29] Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,[30] Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Spain, and Switzerland.
France [edit]
The photographers at the scene of Lady Diana's fatal car accident were investigated for violation of the French law of "non-assistance à personne en danger" (deliberately failing to provide assistance to a person in danger), which can be punished by up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000.
Anyone who fails to render assistance to a person in danger will be found liable before French Courts (civil and criminal liability). The penalty for this offence in criminal courts is imprisonment and a fine (under article 223?6 of the Criminal Code) while in civil courts judges will order payment of pecuniary compensation to the victims.[31]

Great post, Paula.

fromparistoberlin having an autistic child I think about this a lot. I wonder, when people say that there are so many more autistic boys around than ever before whether children like my DS would have been killed in the past when a good smack or three, or broken bones didn't work because people were ignorant of how to cope with non-compliant children otherwise. I am sure that many such children were beaten to death due to toileting, sleeplessness and behaviour issues, or starved because like my DS, they could only tolerate dry bland food and it wasn't give to them.

A father had the right to dispose of his children as he saw fit until quite recently.

Having a non-biologically-related man in the household massively increases the risk-factor. I can just imagine the ignorant fucker needing to assert his masculine authority and not wanting a four-year-old boy to get the better of him with tragic consequences.

I dont know. I think what triggered my attention was the comment that his english was not great, there are alot of kids in my DS class that learn english very fast, so it made me think maybe he had some learning difficulties?

Its what loveis says, some people are just not wired like us. Its the same as my friends (very EX) P who locked her in a room and threatended her with an iron.

we fail to comprehend, but there always have been, and always will be people who can easily inflict cruelty

sentancing this week I think

Or maybe his rotten mother and horrible excuse for a step-father didn't talk to him very much. Especially not in English. The amount of talking going on in your family makes a huge difference to small children.

I was thinking that. Hard to learn anything when you spend most of your time shut in a cupboard.

I knew a child who thought her name was, "Shut Up". That's what grown-ups called her, she told us. English with English-speaking family. Poor Daniel didn't stand a bloody chance to defend himself.

edam, you are probably right

Audrina, that's chilling. Poor kid. I hope 'she told us' means she got help or got out or something?

I'm a woolly liberal on social issues, I recognise that things are complicated, family dynamics can be incredibly difficult with generations of damaged people yadda yadda yadda... but some behaviour is so cruel even I wonder whether the people involved are monsters.

there is a facebook page called "justice for daniel pelka"

Its very touching, there is one lady (maybe a journalist) providing updates on the trail and a sky jounalist is tweeting

I find it veru touchind that after his tragic demise there are people (strangers) that care so passionately

I hope one day his sibling know that there were people that really cared and wanted to see justice done, I think its very important

spelling opps

Paula0506, I for one would definitely support your campaign. I read on the Justice for Daniel Pelka site (there is an article pertaining to it) that there will be a serious case review into whether the school could have done more for this little boy given new evidence which has come to light during the course of the criminal proceedings.

I have written to my MP about the devastating cases of Daniel Pelka and Keanu Williams and she agrees that more needs to be done to increase the support for children in schools - such as increasing school social sorkers. The NSPCC are looking for volunteers to go into schools as mentors for children, as well. Health Visitor numbers are on the decline and this all has a knock on effect. That being said, it seems clear the school did not do enough for this little boy. As someone said in this thread a lot of "hand wringing and if onlys...." after his tragic demise at the hands of these two monsters. There is not enough media reporting on these issues - the two cases I mention above. Are we becoming more tolerant of these terrible cases after a recent spate of them?

I was sickened to hear that the step father in the Keanu Williams case did not even serve time in prison for his part, convicted only of child cruelty. He got a two year suspended sentence and 100 hours community service. He was there when the child was left to die in a spare room in his house. He eventually dialled 999. Why was he allowed to go free. The bastard!?

Relatives had described how Keanu would often have a soiled nappy, while concerned nursery staff had spoken with his mother about marks on his body.

Mrs Cowley Investigating police officer said: ?It is almost inevitable that looking back at the bigger picture, there is something that could have been done differently.?

Mrs Cowley said there had been ?a wide number of people who had come into contact with Keanu in his short life?.

WHY oH WHY do we live in a society where people are too complacent or uncaring to speak out for such children. We need to be their voices. They have no-one else but those around them.....once again another child let down. It makes me so angry and sad I could cry.....

Poor wee lad. Heartbreaking. If nothing else, I sincerely hope this case highlights the importance of vigilance. Particularly where the education/medical authority is concerned.

Mother (and I use that term advisedly) and the partner were both found guilty of murder. Prayers for this little baby. Prayers for any child who is abused, lonely, and afraid.

Poor poor little Daniel. I hope he is in a better place

sentence is in

bugger found guilty,apologies