‘ Unacceptable’ errors before baby’s death

Social workers failed to check on tiny boy leading up to fatal injuries

Unacceptable” errors meant social workers failed to check on a 3- month- old baby when concerns were raised about his welfare, just weeks before the little boy suffered horrific head injuries in a fatal assault.

The breaches of policy and practice at Child Youth and Family, now known as Oranga Tamariki, included a supervisor downgrading the priority of the case as the seven- day deadline for visiting the home after the “report of concern” had already passed.

By marking the case as less urgent, the CYF office in Tauranga circumvented the “red flag” system in place and avoided a negative rating for poor performance.

Instead, the case was given to a student social worker on placement who called the baby’s grandmother in Whanganui.

They discussed the parenting skills of the baby’s mother and the possibility of placing the boy into his grandmother’s care, if necessary, following a safety check of the home.

The CYF visit never happened. The next day the trainee was on study leave, followed by the weekend, and Monday was a public holiday.

The next day, Richard Royal Uddin was declared dead in Tauranga Hospital with severe skull fractures described by one medical expert as being “cracked like an egg”, akin to injuries suffered in a high- speed car crash. Baby Royal, as he was called, was in the care of Surender Singh Mehrok at the time on the evening of June 7, 2016.

Mehrok, 19, was in a casual relationship with the baby’s mother, who had split from Baby Royal’s father.

This week Mehrok was sentenced to seven years nine months in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter at a second trial. His original conviction for murder had earlier been quashed.

Now the criminal court case i s over, a Weekend Herald investigation into Baby Royal’s death can reveal:

■ The downgrading of the urgency of response to a “Report of Concern” described by an Oranga Tamariki manager as “unacceptable”.

■ A witness saw Mehrok slap another young child just five months before Baby Royal’s death. She called CYF and a social worker visited the home the next day. Detectives also investigated and an arrest warrant was issued, but police were unable to find Mehrok.

■ When Mehrok was later charged with murdering Baby Royal, he was also charged with assaulting three other young children living in the same house. But the jurors in each of his trials were never told about this evidence.

The death of Baby Royal is now being investigated by a Coroner, who may decide to hold a full inquest to determine the circumstances leading up to the fatal assault.

“The death of this young boy in 2016 was incredibly sad, and I want to acknowledge the grief of Richard’s family,” said Tasi Malu, the Oranga Tamariki regional manager for the Bay of Plenty.

How social workers assess the risk posed to a child’s safety changed when CYF became Oranga Tamariki in 2017, but Malu said it was important to learn what could have been done differently for Baby Royal.

A CYF review of the circumstances found policy and practice guidelines were not followed, which Malu said led to “key opportunities” being missed. “If Richard’s vulnerability had been recognised sooner, he would have been seen by a social worker and his safety assessed.

“This may not have prevented his death but even with the advantage of hindsight this was unacceptable.”

The “Report of Concern” on May 20, 2016 — fewer than three weeks before Baby Royal’s death — was made by his father, Nasir Uddin, who was separated from the infant’s mother, Nikita Winiata, at the time.

She had called Uddin “about 20 times” around 1am, according to his police statement, and he could hear his son crying in the background.

Uddin thought Winiata was drunk and was sufficiently concerned to immediately call CYF. Winiata told the Weekend Herald she did not abuse alcohol or drugs after Baby Royal was born, but did so after his death to numb her pain.

The decision to downgrade the response to the “Report of Concern” after failing to meet the seven- day timeframe made was also not acceptable practice, said Malu.

“A 20- day timeframe would have only been appropriate if there was no immediate risk to Richard’s safety and he was getting support and monitoring in the home.”

A Coroner can investigate the wider circumstances of the death now the criminal case against Mehrok concluded this week, after more than four years of court hearings.

He was left to take care of Baby Royal on the evening of June 7, 2016, while Winiata went out to pick up pizza. She returned 30 minutes later to find her baby lifeless.

He suffered massive skull fractures akin to a high- speed car crash or being dropped from a multi- storey building.

Mehrok admitted inflicting the fatal injuries but claimed he reacted impulsively, rather than intentionally, when he couldn’t settle the crying in-fant.

He was found guilty of murder in 2017 but the conviction was quashed and he was then found guilty of manslaughter at a retrial in August.

None of the jurors was told Mehrok was also facing assault charges against three other children living in the same house as Baby Royal.

The assaults consisted of frequent slaps around the face, back and head of the children aged 5, 3 and 2.

The Crown wanted to prosecute all the alleged offences together in a single trial, arguing the assaults were propensity evidence which showed Mehrok used physical violence when frustrated by children in his care.

The Court of Appeal disagreed and ruled the assault charges should be separated from the murder charge.

In the opinion of the three- judge panel, the evidence of the assaults was more likely to prejudice the jury against Mehrok than be of value in proving the murder charge.

After he was convicted in the first murder trial in 2018, Mehrok pleaded guilty to the assault charges and was sentenced in the Tauranga District Court to five months in prison.

“He acted as an impatient babysitter, abusing a position of trust and showing no self- discipline when it came to the perceived unruliness of young children,” said Judge Paul Mabey, QC.

While most of the assaults were uncovered during the homicide investigation, court documents released to the Weekend Herald show CYF and the police were aware Mehrok allegedly slapped one of the children five months before Baby Royal’s death.

A woman walking along 19th Avenue in Tauranga saw Mehrok slap a young child around the head in January 2016. The witness called CYF who visited the home the next day and alerted the police.

A detective was assigned to investigate and an arrest warrant was issued for Mehrok.

“We made a number of inquiries to try and arrest him. But we kept hitting brick walls at every address we doorknocked, which happens when you’re trying to find an illegal immigrant,” said Greg Turner, who was in charge of the Tauranga CIB until his recent retirement.

“We kept getting cold shouldered around town, given the runaround. It’s a tragic case but I’m comfortable we did everything we could do.”

Baby Royal’s parents, Winiata and Uddin, have since reconciled in Tauranga and have two more children together.

Winiata said she was unaware that Mehrok was wanted by police for assaulting another child living in the house.

“If I knew he was hitting those kids, I never would have left him alone. I would have packed up our bags and left.”