Damning review says life of tragic toddler may have been saved
A TODDLER who died after being violently shaken by his foster mother could have been saved if warning signs had been acted on – a serious case review has found.
The review, by Warwickshire’s Safeguarding Children Board, has been anonymised – but refers to the case of 23-month-old Harry Aspley who died in June 2013 after being shaken by foster carer Wendy Hardy.
Details in the shocking document reveal how Hardy left little Harry alone and in a coma for several hours after the assault until he was discovered by his foster father.
The review said this demonstrated Hardy’s “complete lack of compassion and empathy for a small child”.
The youngster, referred to as ‘T’ in the review document, had been placed in the care of Hardy for his protection.
But he was admitted to hospital with a bleeding brain on June 26 and died on June 30 when his life support was switched off.
Doctors concluded his injuries were non-accidental due to bleeding in his eyeballs consistent with a child being shaken.
Hardy pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to five years and four months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court.
She was also handed an additional 14 months in prison, to run consecutively, for fraudulently claiming £27,000 for fostering two children who were not in her care at the time.
The review made 11 recommendations on how a reoccurrence of this type of incident could be prevented in the future - citing failures to follow up concerns and properly share informa- tion between agencies.
The review said concerns about the wellbeing of Harry were repeatedly raised during his foster placement, which began on March 29, 2013, by family members and professionals.
The review added: “That professionals could be so convinced that there was ‘something wrong’ with T and the problem was with him, is an indication of the level of deviousness to which the foster carers resorted to ensure that their neglect and ill treatment of T remained undiscovered, until it was too late.”
The review also said this case backed up lessons to be learned from the death of Daniel Pelka in Coventry during 2012. It emerged Harry had lost two kilogrammes in just 12 weeks in foster care. Coventry schoolboy Daniel Pelka had also suffered dramatic weight loss in the build up to his death. The weight loss was put down to various illnesses and “choking” by the foster mother at the time - but no medical advice was sought. According to the review, greater scrutiny could have prevented Harry’s death. It read: “The need for professionals to maintain professional curiosity, and respectful uncertainty where concerns arise about the care offered to children whether by birth parents or foster carers cannot be overemphasised. “There were sufficient concerns to question the motivation and the suitability of these foster carers to look after children. “If information about such concerns had been appropriately shared and investigated, then questions as to the suitability of the foster carers may have been more robustly considered. “Similarly, serious consideration should have been given to others who came forward to care for T. If such scrutiny had occurred, then T’s death may have been prevented.”
A total of 11 recommendations were made to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
They included increased vigilance of suspected abuse by carers and professionals, focus on how information is presented and shared, and that the findings of the review were sent to all partner agencies.
A response from WSCB said: “WSCB accepts the findings and recommendations of this important serious case review.
“As a Board we recognise the extremely distressing nature of this case, in which a vulnerable young child was killed while in the care of foster carers with whom he had been placed for his own safety and protection.
“We would wish to offer our condolences to the child’s mother and all those who knew and loved this child.
“The death of a child in such circumstances is fortunately rare, but our aim is to reduce the possibility of a similar event happening again to the lowest possible level.
“The board wishes to take this opportunity to look carefully at our systems and processes in order that we can improve these and minimise the risks to other children.”
There were sufficient concerns to question the motivation and suitability of these foster carers. Case review