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Original poster

Poor little baby Jessica

57 replies

dillpickle · 13/02/2008 18:37

Sorry but had to write as feeling so sad for poor little baby Jessica who was murdered by her father. Just heard about it on the news; about how she was failed by doctors/social services etc. She was only 7 weeks old. How can anyone be so evil and how did no one notice??

OP posts:
McDreamylove · 13/02/2008 18:37

I couldn't watch it!

expatinscotland · 13/02/2008 18:38

Aw, I'd love a wee newborn.

They're so dependent on others. Poor wee souls.

bossybritches · 13/02/2008 18:45

Dear god another cock-up by the care system

This child was 54 DAYS OLD and the fact that she had been seen on 30, THIRTY different occasions and hd been sexually abused didn't ring ANY alarm bells with ANYONE!!!!!

doesn't BEGIN to describe how I feel.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 13/02/2008 18:47

I missed it, thankfully.

Eliza2 · 13/02/2008 18:49

How awful that her short life was filled with such horror.

And we all know women who'd give anything to have a baby to look after.

Original poster
dillpickle · 13/02/2008 18:56

Her father apparently said he had fantasized about killing and torturing a woman since he was 12. And dreamt of killing Jessica since the day she was born! Sick sick man.

OP posts:
cupsoftea · 13/02/2008 20:00

words can't describe such a terrible crime

FAQ · 13/02/2008 20:03

this case has been all over our local papers as it's just up the road from us - horrible.

ara · 13/02/2008 21:43

I saw this on the news this afternoon while breastfeeding my baby girl who is almost two weeks older than Jessica was when she was killed and my stomach was literally churning - i still feel physically sick thinking that anyone could be so evil - and to their own child. How could this happen?? Poor little soul.

nametaken · 13/02/2008 22:09

There's no photograph available for little Jessica. How that in her short little life, no-one bothered to take her photograph.

I hate to winge about Social Services as I think they get all the blame when things go wrong and none of the thanks when things go right but I am just at a loss to know how baby jessica slipped through the net.

notnowbernard · 13/02/2008 22:12

Well by all accounts she 'slipped through the net' because NOT ONE of the 30 HCPs that saw her in her life reported her to Social Services

lennygrrl · 13/02/2008 22:13

Message withdrawn

sweetkitty · 13/02/2008 22:13

don't have the words

gigglewitch · 13/02/2008 22:15

am not trying to blame, start debate etc, just wondered - WHERE WAS HER MOTHER?
(sorry shouting)

notnowbernard · 13/02/2008 22:17

Mother is diagnosed schizophrenic

Which makes me feel even more shocked that NOT ONE Healthcare prof was not more alert to potential risks in this case

jezzemx · 13/02/2008 22:21

She has been failed by everyone. How can this happen again after Victoria Climbie? Nametaken the comment you made about the photographs has had me in tears again. when I think in comparison the hundreds I have constantly taken of my DDs as they grow from beautiful newborns to fantastic little girls. I am so proud of them.
Our children are so precious and to think that a sick fucking bastard of a so called father can do this to a beautiful little baby girl just makes me feel so sick, mad, and angry and in cases like this I really do beleive he should be put to death.

SIANYWARNY · 13/02/2008 22:33

I have cried all day over this. Holding my baby girl, and waiting for my other daughter to come home from school, so I could give her all the love and cuddles that poor baby should have got.
My heart aches when I think about it. And this story will haunt my dreams, as many others like this do.
People would give up their world to love and cherish a tiny soul like jessica, but they didn't know how lucky they were.
I love, kiss and hug my girls a little more every time I hear things like this. And realise how amazingly lucky I am.

expatinscotland · 13/02/2008 22:34

This story was just a little too hard to bear after my MC in December.

Poor, poor baby.

notnowbernard · 13/02/2008 22:38

Feel I must add that I do not believe those with mental illness are unable to care for a baby or child...

Just that with a diagnosis of an illness such as schizophrenia, surely the Mother would have had her own network of healthcare profs involved, particularly around the time of the baby's birth? I.e, the fact it was a premature birth, possible changes in medication, higher risk of post-natal complications?

It beggars belief

jezzemx · 13/02/2008 22:43

Notnowbernard. like I said she has been failed by everyone. Do these agencies, trusts, Social Services never learn. Communication and contact between them all is they key. Lose the communication and the left hand does not know what the righ hand is doing!!!
Poor poor child.

scottishmummy · 13/02/2008 22:47

i need to add the father was the perpetrator of this atrocious act, not the mum with MH diagnosis. But this is a global communication/mdt systemic failure. so sad

diagnosis of MH in itself does not necessarily render one an unfit parent

bossybritches · 14/02/2008 07:22

This was in 2005- it's taken this long for a report to be publlished wonder why?

listens to distant sounds of HCP's heading for the hills

Until we have effective cross communication between ALL areas of maternal/child health-this will keep on happening. Each area concerned with this little mite probably didn't have a clue what other professionals were involved with the family, they are all so over-stretched & under-resourced that there is never one person to sit down & look at the big picture.

Mother-MH carers, baby- hospital admissions & HVs

Trouble is many of them are unwlling to share information & liase with other teams-they can be extraordinarily territorial when it comes to exchanging info about "their" clients.

it's not a simple matter to sort out by any means but we MUST find a way to improve our systems for any future Jessica.

The hospital concerned say they have re-trained people & changed their referral system for alerting the Safeguarding Children team -so that's a start I suppose.

notnowbernard · 14/02/2008 11:04

Again, want to state my belief that a diagnosis of mental illness does not leave someone unable to parent a child.

BossyBritches, I agree this is a MDT failure.

Clearly no multi-agency communication took place, ie conversations/referrals between different health professionals.

Utterly tragic

scottishmummy · 14/02/2008 12:00

systemic failure and poor mdt communication contributed to this tragedy. hopefully lessons will be learned and adequate protocols and preventative measure put in place.

yes to reaffirm my previous post MH diagnosis does not render one incapeable of safe parenting. it may warrant monitoring of situation

after all the man who killed and brutalised this poor baby Jessica was allegedly not known to psychiatry

notnowbernard · 14/02/2008 12:06

ScottishMummy - My point is though that presumably the mother, as a woman with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, would presumably have had numerous HCP involved in her care anyway...comm nurse, psychiatrist etc.

To me that means failure from another set of Professionals supposedly in place to safeguard and protect Mother and baby... I'm sure the MH profs would have had increased contact with the mother around time of birth and weeks after? Birth and post-natal period would have been a really vulnerable time for her