Call for new probe into deaths of three Fife children.

Documentary raises questions about social work department’s handling of cases

Calls have been stepped up for an independent probe into how social workers handled the cases of three Fife children who were murdered in the space of just four months.

Significant case reviews following the deaths of Mikaeel Kular, Liam Fee and Madison Horn in 2014 all concluded that the tragedies could not have been anticipated.

But new evidence in a BBC Scotland documentary this week suggested that more could have been done to prevent what happened in each instance.

Question marks have been raised about the death of two-year-old Madison, who was murdered by her mother’s new boyfriend Kevin Park at her home in Kelty in April 2014.

The review into Madison’s murder concluded there had been no evidence to suggest any agency was aware of any concern regarding the child’s well-being, although the BBC revealed a social worker had failed to warn Madison’s mum about her new partner’s violent past.

Former Fife SNP group leader Neale Hanvey, who led on social work, said the programme called into question the significant case review’s findings.

“These reviews need to be meaningful and they have to have significant substance to be effective,” he said.

“If we miss out key bits of information we’re not being honest with ourselves and we’re missing very important opportunities to prevent the kind of things that happened in this situation from happening again.

“I think an independent review, headed up by a competent professional, supported by lay members, should begin an immediate investigation into the allegations that this programme is making, and into the wider implications of that in terms of if there was a deliberate attempt to obfuscate the facts around the Madison Horn case. “We don’t have an isolated situation. “We’ve got multiple child deaths in the one authority, and I think that, given this information and that situation, make the case unanswerable. We need to understand much more detail, and in a much more honest and transparent way, exactly what happened here.”

The programme also raised concerns that warnings had been ignored prior to the deaths of Liam Fee and Mikaeel Kular.

Liam, 2, was murdered by his mother and her partner at his home in Thornton in March 2014, while three-year-old Mikaeel was killed by his mother and dumped in a suitcase in Kirkcaldy that January.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said an independent inquiry was now needed.

“From what we know just now, the evidence is complex but it is important that all the facts in each of the three cases must be made known in full,” she said.

“Naturally, serious questions are being asked about Fife Council’s handling of these cases, but we need to know exactly what happened before making a final judgment.

“When that happens, whoever was responsible must be held fully accountable and the relevant changes must be made to procedures.”

Madison Horn, 2, was killed by her mother’s boyfriend, Kevin Park, who the BBC discovered was known to the social work department.