Mother guilty of starving daughter to death:(

[TheLeftFelanji]

How does this happen...and go unnoticed by the community?

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7040747.ece

poorlittle girl.

r.i.p

link

Warning: very upsetting (obviously)

Heard it on the radio and thought I must have misheard .

Abusers/neglecters are very good at hiding things. That's how it happens.

Bloody awful

I feel so angry. And confused. Why didn't the school, neighbour, outside family....anybody else notice or do anything? Poor poor children

The school rang SS 4 times in one day I think voicing their concern

the school did report their concerns apparently repeatedly. But then the mother removed all the children from school. Head teacher tried again after this according to here, even trying to visit the children herself to check on them.

There was another article on the bbc that I can't find now from the father that mentions how the school had repeatedly voiced concerns.

Good Lord a social services professor on CH4 just now said SS and police had no right in law to enter a house where they had concerns about the welfare of a child!?!

Well that's bollocks they can get an Emergency Protection Order, but of course they need to have some sort of evidence (a statement from someone, at least) that there's something up.

Everyone is sooo nervous about intervening, terrible. My sister recently witnessed a mother punch a child and threaten further abuse when her father got home(this was at a shopping mall) whilst my sister made notes and made a call when she got home, she was too scared to say anything unless she was attacked.

These days you're more likely to receive a letter from a school complaining about a high BMI than the SS having the right powers to save children. I think about Trinity having a visit, who is clearly a caring and loving mother, and then these people being given enough room to kill one child and nearly two others, fucking awful.

btw My sister is under 5' and had her baby in a carrier at the time.

HEing parents want to keep this right. At the moment they can do what they like with the child, and no one has the right to see the child! SS can, if there is cause for concern but if the DC isn't at school it is very difficult for the school just to say they 'think there is abuse but they have no evidence because the child is no longer in school'. Having a visit from the education department is worth doing if it saves just one child IMO.

Its just disgusting that that poor little girl was let down by society and by the very people whose job it was to protect her.

If her mother was severely depressed and the boyfriend schizophrenic surely there should have been support in place at the start.

I home educate and if social services knocked on my door at any time I would allow them in regardless of tidiness,wether dc was asleep or whatever,and I think the law has let down poor khyra.

Absolutely shocking that social workers assessed that she was 'clean and healthy' from the doorstep of her house.

Her mother was severely depressed and extremely hostile to visits from any external agencies (school, social services). Her stepfather is a drug user and schizophrenic. They were 'home educating' her and her five siblings.

FFS, the warning bells were ringing loud enough for a complete dunce to work out those kids were at risk

Oh no, are we already deciding that people's lives must be opened up to persecution from agencies of the state in case it saves "just one child"?

Parents who home educate should not have to register with anyone.

Home education is not what killed this girl. Concerns were raised and ignored.

Using this case as an excuse for exercising greater control over people who opt out of the state education system is disgusting. Every time a child dies some moron tries to use their suffering as a reason why other children and their parents must be brought into line.

But I would have no objection to registering with any official body.

I think the home ed thing is a bit of a red herring, but sadly it will be grabbed on to by anyone wishing to run down those who choose it.

This would have happened regardless of how the kid was educated. People who do this are very good at hiding things. It is easy to move from area to area or to keep a child off school under false pretences. Or make up excuse.

Lots of families are hostile to external agencies, some have drug and mental health issues too. I deal with families like this on an all too regular basis. They don't all starve or neglect their children.
The key thing with this family is that nobody was seeing the children. I don't know how we can prevent this kind of thing occurring without legislation to say "every child must be seen at least once a year" (or whatever) which as skidoodle says is not what many people want.
Concerns were raised and ignored which given the state of children's social care (over worked and understaffed in many areas) is not surprising. Sadly unless this is addressed there will be more like this little girl.

They really are labouring the home ED thing.

I do wonder if certain cultures/minorities are under represented in the social work/police/education professions and so it is perhaps a lot harder for professionals to easily work with some families?

Just a thought - sometimes people post here saying "I am worried about the child next door/over the road etc" and asking if they should phone social services. I have seen people say "no - you don't know the facts" .

What occurs to me is that even if we don't know the facts we should trust our instincts and report.
The other thing which occurs is that sadly those concerns may go un-noticed or unheeded by those whose job it is to investigate, especially if a prior visit appeared reassuring.

They are labouring the HE thing because any other DC is seen at school. HEed DCs can remain hidden unless someone makes a specific claim of ill treatment. I was talking to my friend who HEs recently and she finds the education officer quite friendly and helpful. He sees her once a year and makes it lunch time because they give him lunch. The poor man gets a terribly hard time. He has parents who speak to him through the letterbox!! What an example to set the child!

i think HE kids should get some regulatory services. Not because i think every parent wanting to HE is a potential abuser but to make sure the kids being HE are getting appropriate tuition.

I don't think the home ed issue is being laboured here, actiually. Perhaps on TV news, i don't know...

Point is, it is highly unlikely that Khyra have got to 2 stone 9 lbs in weight - so badly malnourished that she couldn't walk or speak - if she had been attending school and had been on the radar of teachers.

That doesn't make home education 'to blame' - of course not. It means it was used as a guise by manipulative, sick people in order to abuse a child.

I personally do think that people wishing to home educate their children be required to undergo certain checks and visoits, but that is a different issue. This family was visited on multiple occcasions by spcial services, educational welfare and the police - yet nobody identified that she was being starved to death and beaten. It just beggars belief.

And actually, I do think that mental illness + drug use + 'home education' (or in this case, simply not sending your kids to school) is a bad mix and should have been investigated much more thoroughly by SS.

Of course not all mentally ill/drug using people beat and starve their children, but their ability to parent may be severely affected and they will almost certainly need support in order to ensure their children don't suffer.

If you wish to H.E you can,but if you have a child with SEN apparently its harder to dereg your child,therefore surely if you arent in the best mental health if you decide to H.E there should be support?

She was allowed to slip from the system because she becomes no one's responsibility. HE is a bit of a red herring because she was known to SS and concerns had been raised. However she couldn't have starved to death if she had been in school, but she could at home. She is a case where officials can enter the house.
I just don't see why everyone can't be open and let people see what they are doing. My friend's DCs bake a cake and make a sandwich for the man from the education office. He has a chat and goes away for a year-hardly arduous-and much more civilized than letting your DCs see you talk to him through the letter box! I never understand why people are frightened of authority.