Arthur must be the last child betrayed

THE bestial killing of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, tortured, starved and poisoned by adults masquerading as his protectors, diminishes us all.

The defenceless child endured a campaign of unimaginable barbarity at the hands of his evil stepmother Emma Tustin and cruel, cowardly father Thomas Hughes.

The judge, more’s the pity, did not sentence the sadists to die in prison. But they will remain behind bars for many, many years.

Mercifully, such harrowing cases are rare. But each time they come to light, they are depressingly familiar.

Like every heartbreaking killing from Victoria Climbie to Baby P, the failures of the authorities to safeguard this little boy were numerous and shocking.

Box-ticking social services, the police and teachers all missed – with scandalous incompetence – signs Arthur was being abused. Had they acted, he might be alive.

Anxious relatives warned he was covered in bruises. Yet social workers carried out only cursory checks and swallowed the couple’s lies that he was safe. Police ignored photos of injuries sent by Arthur’s uncle. Instead of investigating, they threatened him with arrest for harassment.

Of course, responsibility lies squarely with the boy’s guardians. But it is crucial to ask if lockdown was a contributory factor.

The former children’s commissioner says that with schools shut and restrictions in force, fewer welfare checks were carried out. This made it worryingly easy for problem families to drop off the radar.

Indeed, as many as 50,000 at-risk youngsters have slipped from view.

Boris Johnson has vowed to leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of Arthur’s death. He must make a difference. Every time one occurs, inquiries are set up and declarations made that such outrages will never be allowed to happen again.

The dark tragedy is that they do. Again and again and again.