Cot death victim was abandoned by Named Person
Mother jailed for neglect told them not to return
A COT death victim was abandoned by his Named Person after the mother who neglected him told them to stop visiting.
It has emerged that two-yearold Clyde Campbell’s Named Person had no contact with him for 18 months before his death.
The revelation comes only weeks after the SNP claimed Clyde’s case ‘underlined the need’ for its state guardian scheme.
It shows his mother, Amanda Hardie, was able to neglect him for almost five months without the Named Person intervening.
The disclosures come after it emerged two-year-old Liam Fee, who was murdered by his mother and her partner, had a Named Person under an early version of the scheme in Fife.
Hardie, who left her son at home in Inverness to work in a nightclub – often spending the night with her boyfriend before returning the next day – was out when Clyde was found dead in his cot by a neighbour. She was jailed for ten months in May.
Highland Council has now admitted the health visitor who was Clyde’s Named Person only made contact four times, although other services were involved. The toddler was not on the child protection register at any point.
The Named Person went to the family home twice in the first months of Clyde’s life, in January and February 2012, with a colleague visiting in March. After that there were two further contacts, in April and August of that year, which were not face to face but by telephone.
In response to a message left in the second call, Hardie said she did not want further visits from the Named Person, who never contacted her again.
Critics attacked SNP claims that the tragedy strengthened the case for the Named Person scheme, due to be rolled out nationwide in August, as ‘an important part of trying to ensure youngsters do not come to harm’.
Simon Calvert of the No to the Named Person campaign said: ‘Despite the fact that Clyde had a Named Person, the Government tried to use him to make the case for the scheme. When so much has been made of the scheme, and the Highland scheme in particular, it must be right to expose it to a proper degree of scrutiny – not least when there is a case like this.
‘No stone can be left unturned in the investigation of how such neglect is able to take place.’
Highland Council has been trialling the Named Person scheme since 2010.
Earlier this month, director of care and learning Bill Alexander admitted it ‘can’t deal with a family that doesn’t want to engage; a
‘She chose not to seek support’
parent who’s determined to cause harm to a child’.
Education Secretary John Swinney backed this analysis, saying: ‘That is exactly what the Government has said.’
Mr Alexander said yesterday: ‘A Named Person works with the consent of parents and would have been there to support Miss Hardie, if she had been willing to work in partnership. However, while Miss Hardie chose not to seek support from her health visitor, other services continued to engage with her and her family.
‘This is a tragic case which is deeply saddening. The Highland child protection committee is reviewing all the circumstances and will consider any learning points identified in that review.’
An SNP spokesman said: ‘This is an utterly tragic case and, while no system can prevent all tragedies, it’s important that we try to ensure youngsters do not come to harm.
‘The Named Person is about supporting, not diminishing, the role of parents – and has already been upheld by the highest court in Scotland, including a ruling which said the policy had “no effect whatsoever on the legal, moral or social relationships within the family”.’
The row comes after Mr Swinney condemned critics as ‘atrocious’ for suggesting Liam Fee’s murder raised serious questions over the effectiveness of Named Persons.
The Scottish Government insists Liam did not have a Named Person in the fullest legislative sense. But all children in Fife have been allocated a Named Person since 2009.