Social workers who failed to save Elsie won’t be disciplined
SOCIAL workers who missed chances to stop a baby girl’s murder by her adoptive father have escaped punishment despite a litany of appalling failings.
Matthew Scully-Hicks, 32, was last year convicted of murdering adopted daughter Elsie after subjecting her to seven months of assaults.
At least three social workers and a health visitor made 15 visits to their family home in Cardiff in that time – yet not one of them raised an alarm over the tell-tale signs of abuse.
An official inquiry into the circumstances of 18-month-old Elsie’s murder, published yesterday, laid bare the series of social services’ errors that effectively condemned the baby to death.
The report tells how naive social workers were determined to view her ‘welleducated and articulate’ middle class same-sex adoptive parents, Scully-Hicks and his husband Craig, through a ‘posiElsie’s tive lens’. None of the Vale of Glamorgan Council social workers were named in the 27-page report, despite being identified at Scully-Hicks’ trial last year.
Lance Carver, the council’s new director of social services, said it had been deemed ‘not appropriate’ to discipline any of the social workers involved. But the Child Practice Review highlights how their utter ‘lack of professional curiosity’ into many injuries was what ultimately led to her death.
On one occasion, they failed to pass on details of a deep bruise on her forehead, likely the result of a violent beating. With no comprehensive record of her wounds available to the adoption hearing judge, Scully-Hicks was granted formal adoption of Elsie on May 12, 2016.
Thirteen days later, he murdered her by shaking her and thrashing her against a floor or wall. Doctors said the injuries were similar to a car crash.
At a press conference in Cardiff yesterday, Mr Carver apologised to the birth family of Elsie, born Shayla O’Brien to drug addict Gemma O’Brien in November 2014.
The social services director at the time of Elsie’s death, Philip Evans, has since retired.
It has emerged how two social workers, Laura Neal and Cheryl Longley, independent reviewing officer Erol Bowers and health visitor Jodie Golten failed properly to record a bruise that appeared on Elsie’s forehead in December 2015 and lasted for eight weeks. They also failed to share concerns Elsie was developing a squint in her left eye.
The report says: ‘This resulted in the large bruise becoming “invisible” to professionals and did not form part of building an overall picture of what was happening to the child.’
Scully-Hicks claimed Elsie had sustained the bruise by falling.
Mr Carver said: ‘It is difficult to second-guess what would have happened if that had been recorded properly. It clearly wasn’t and that is inadequate. I would like to be clear that, on behalf of the Vale, I apologise for that.’
The report also noted Elsie was referred to an orthopaedics outpatient clinic in November 2015 after an injury to her leg meant she was unable to bear weight for five days. An x-ray was taken, but it was not examined by a paediatric radiologist.
A registrar spotted a lower leg fracture, but not an upper leg fracture caused by abuse.
The report noted: ‘Had both fractures been recognised on the x-ray, this would have raised safeguarding concerns that would have instigated the child protection process.’
Scully-Hicks, originally of Delabole, Cornwall, met Craig in Swindon in 2006. They became a couple in 2008 and bought a three-bedroom property in Cardiff for £150,000 in 2010. In 2012, they married in Portugal.
Scully-Hicks was jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years in November last year following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
Andrew R T Davies, former leader of the Welsh Conservatives, said: ‘It is deeply alarming that Elsie’s death has been found to have been preventable – and the fact no one has been disciplined will repulse many.
‘It is clear that Matthew Scully-Hicks should never have been allowed near a vulnerable child – let alone a baby. It is vital that these mistakes are learned from so something as sickening as this can never be allowed to happen again.’
Suzanne Griffiths of the National Adoption Service for Wales said: ‘The report concludes key decisions regarding the approval of Elsie’s adoptive parents were thorough and robust.’
Mr Carver said: ‘Implementing the recommendations of the independent review is a priority and one we take incredibly seriously.’
Family members of Laura Neal declined to comment. Jodie Golten, Erol Bowers and Cheryl Longley could not be contacted.
‘Invisible to professionals’