Victims keeps growing

BY JAMES MONCUR LAUREN’S case is the latest in a long line of child deaths in Scotland where innocent victims were failed by those entrusted with their safety.

Mikaeel Kular died two days after his mother, Rosdeep Adekoya, beat him savagely at their Edinburgh home in January 2014.

Adekoya put her threeyear-old son’s body in a suitcase, which she his behind her sister’s house in Kirkcaldy, Fife. She then told police he had vanished from home, sparking a massive search,

She was later jailed for 11 years after admitting culpable homicide.

Brandon Muir was beaten to death by his mum’s violent boyfriend, Robert Cunningham, in 2008.

The 23-month-old was kicked so hard in the stomach that his intestines burst. He had more than 40 other injuries, including cracked ribs, and died two days before care workers were due to discuss possibly removing him from the home. Cunningham got 10 years for culpable homicide.

Carla-Nicole Bone, 13 months, was tortured then murdered by her mother’s partner at a cottage near Huntly in 2002 despite Aberdeenshire Social Services being repeatedly warned of the danger she faced. Killer Sandy Mclure, 27, was jailed for life, and CarlaNicole’s mother Andrea, 20, got three years for failing to protect her.

Kennedy McFarlane, three, was attacked and killed in May 2000 in Dumfries by her mother’s boyfriend. Thomas Duncan, 33, was jailed for life, and an independent inquiry concluded that the murder could have been prevented.

Eleven-week-old Caleb Ness, from Edinburgh, was known to be at risk when his father Alexander killed him by shaking him violently in 2001.

A report concluded Caleb had been failed at “almost every level”. Ness got 11 years for culpable homicide.