The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Tragedy of lost chances
Significant case review finds manipulative parents fooled system
Opportunities were missed to protect toddler Liam Fee before he was murdered by his mother and her partner, a review has concluded.
Although the two-year-old’s agonising death in March 2014 could not have been predicted, it said, better understanding of the family’s circumstances could have prevented the harm he suffered.
The significant case review found Liam’s mother Rachel Fee, also known as Trelfa, and partner Nyomi Fee were “manipulative, devious and hindered services”. Clinicians had accepted Rachel’s claim that injuries investigated were due to him self-harming.
Fife’s child protection committee admitted aspects of the case could have been managed more effectively but said significant improvements had since been made across all services.
Rachel and Nyomi Fee were jailed for life last year for the violent murder of Liam at their former home in Thornton, Fife, and a catalogue of sickening cruelty towards him and two other children.
Alan Small, independent chairman of the committee, said: “Rachel Trelfa and Nyomi Fee not only took the life of their child, but did their best to hinder the services that were there to help him.”
Results of the review involving Fife Council, NHS Fife and Lothian and Police Scotland, he said, “paint a picture of services that struggled to see through the actions of devious and manipulative parents.
“There were missed opportunities across services to intervene and provide support to the family and services are aware that they could have done better to support Liam.
“It’s clear that professionals who were making strenuous efforts to act in Liam’s interests were drawn in by the demands and needs of Liam’s mother and her partner who were adept at playing the system, using ‘disguised compliance’ to play one professional against another.
“We deeply regret that our services did not do more to support Liam, and potentially prevent the tragic outcome of this case.”
Since Liam’s death, Mr Small said new social workers and child protection staff had been recruited, case recording processes improved and staff trained to deal with non-compliant parents.
The review was the third of its kind in Fife in three years, following those into the deaths of Mikaeel Kular, 3, in January 2014, and Madison Horn, 2, in April, 2014.
Steve Grimmond, chairman of Fife Chief Officers’ Public Safety Group, which ordered the review of Liam’s case, said: “The circumstances surrounding each of these cases has been very different and I’d like to reassure people that we have been working with partners locally and nationally over the past few years to make sure our child protection services are of the highest quality and that we are continually reviewing and improving our practices.”
Social worker Lesley Bate was struck off last year for serious misconduct relating to 15 children including Liam.
There were missed opportunities across services to intervene and provide support