Children This article is more than 21 years oldCatalogue of cruelty
This article is more than 21 years oldDavid Batty chronicles some of the most the shocking child killings that have rocked this country in the past 60 years1945
Dennis O'Neil, 13, was beaten to death by his foster father, Reginald Gough, at Bank Farm, Shropshire. A post-mortem examination revealed he had been starved for months and weighed just four stone. The murder trial revealed that he had sucked the farm cows' udders in a desperate attempt to get some sustenance. The case shook a war weary Britain and there was a national outcry when Gough was jailed for six years for manslaughter. An appeal court ruling changed the verdict to murder and his sentence was extended to 10 years. A Home Office inquiry identified a string of failures by the staff and agencies involved in the case. There had been confusion between the two local authorities responsible for the boy's foster placement, conflicting reports by childcare staff about his wellbeing, staff shortages and miscommunication.
1973
Maria Colwell, seven, died in Brighton after being starved and beaten by her stepfather, William Kepple. She had suffered brain damage, a fractured rib, black eyes, extensive external bruising and internal injuries. Maria had been fostered by her aunt and uncle because her mother, Pauline, could not cope with bringing up five children on her own. Five years later Pauline decided she wanted her daughter back. But an inquiry by the Department of Health found that East Sussex county council had insufficient evidence to return the girl. There were 50 official visits to the family, including from social workers, health visitors, police and housing officers. All agencies involved in the case were criticised.
1984
Jasmine Beckford was starved and battered to death by her stepfather, Maurice Beckford. He was found guilty of the four-year-old's manslaughter and jailed for 10 years. Her mother, Beverley Lorrington, was jailed for 18 months for neglect. Jasmine had been in the care of Brent social services for two-and-a-half years before she died, after Beckford was convicted of assaulting her younger sister. She was seen by a social worker only once in 10 months.
1984
Tyra Henry died after being battered and bitten by her father, Andrew Neil, while in local authority care. Neil was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for the 21-month-old baby's murder. A report on the case found that the white social workers from Lambeth council tended to be too trusting of the family because they were black. John Patten, then a junior social services minister, published new guidelines on child abuse cases for social workers soon after.
1984
Heidi Koseda starved to death in a locked room in Hillingdon, west London. Her stepfather, Nicholas Price, was jailed for life for her murder while her mother, Rosemary Koseda, was found guilty of manslaughter and detained in a high security psychiatric hospital. A private inquiry into her death found that the senior National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children inspector allocated to her case failed to investigate a complaint of child abuse made by a neighbour. He also tried to cover this up with a fictitious account of a visit to see the child.
1986
Kimberley Carlile, four, was starved and beaten to death in Greenwich. Her stepfather, Nigel Hall, received a life sentence for her murder while her mother was given 12 years' imprisonment for assault and cruelty. Hall frustrated attempts by social workers and health visitors to investigate. But an inquiry found that her death was avoidable and concluded that four key social work and health staff in Greenwich failed to apply the necessary skill, judgement and care in her case.
1987
Doreen Mason died of neglect after her mother and her boyfriend bruised, burnt and broke the 16-month-old's leg then failed to have her injuries treated. Christine Mason and Roy Aston were convicted of manslaughter and cruelty and each jailed for 12 years. Doreen was on the "at risk" register of Southwark council from birth. She slept on the floor where the couple put junk food for her to eat. A report said her social worker was inexperienced and given no proper training or supervision, and that Southwark social services department suffered from a "siege mentality" and "destructive mistrust" between senior managers.
1992
Leanne White, three, was beaten to death by her stepfather, Colin Sleate, who made her sleep on the floor. The girl suffered 107 external injuries and died of internal bleeding and repeated blows to the stomach. Sleate was jailed for life for the girl's murder while her mother, Tina, received 10 years for manslaughter. An inquiry concluded that her death could have been prevented if Nottinghamshire social services had responded properly to reports from her grandmother and neighbours that she was at risk.
1994
Rikki Neave, six, was found strangled by his coat zipper in a wood near Peterborough. His drug addict mother, Ruth, was jailed after admitting cruelty towards Rikki and two of his three sisters. She hit them, burned them, threw them across the room and locked them outside. Neave had asked a succession of social workers to take the boy off her hands and told one she would kill Rikki if they did not do something. A report by the social services inspectorate three years later said fault primarily lay with senior management in Cambridgeshire social services department.
1999
Chelsea Brown, two, was battered to death by her father. Robert Brown, who was jailed for life for her murder, had a criminal record for violence against children. Her mother, Maria Brown, was jailed for 18 months for child cruelty. The girl's social worker, Norma McDevitt, visited the family 27 times in the 10 weeks before her death. She took Chelsea to a paediatrician who said that six out of nine areas of bruising "had no plausible explanation" and at least one was deliberately inflicted. These findings should have triggered police involvement and a multi-agency case conference under Derbyshire county council's procedures, but neither happened.
2000
Victoria Climbié, eight, died from hypothermia in a tiny flat in Tottenham, north London, after suffering months of horrific abuse and neglect. Her aunt, Marie Thérèse Kouao, and her boyfriend, Carl Manning, were both jailed for life for the girl's murder in January 2001. A public inquiry into her death began in September 2001, which is expected to lead to sweeping reform of Britain's child protection services. It has heard that there were at least 12 chances for the agencies involved in her protection to have saved her. Two social workers from the London borough of Haringey have been suspended and face disciplinary proceedings.
2000
Lauren Wright, six, was found dead after suffering a fatal punch or kick from her stepmother, Tracey Wright, which caused her digestive system to collapse. The woman was found guilty of manslaughter, as was the girl's father, Craig Wright, who had turned a blind eye to her abuse. Norfolk social services department has admitted it made serious mistakes and missed chances to save Lauren. An inquiry found that inter-agency coordination was "ineffective" and social workers had not acted with "due urgency".
2002
Ainlee Labonte, two, was starved and tortured to death by her vicious parents, Leanne Labonte and Dennis Henry. The couple, from Plaidstow, east London, were jailed for manslaughter for deliberately punching, scalding and burning the toddler, who had 64 scars and bruises on her body when she died. She weighed just 9.5kg (21lbs), about half the normal weight of a child that age. An inquiry into her death found that the health and social workers who should have protected her failed to do so because they were paralysed with fear of Leanne and Dennis. It criticised the staff and agencies involved for poor communication and for failing to carry out a proper assessment of the risks facing Ainlee.
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