Two men found guilty of causing Baby P's death
Men and mother cleared of murder but jury finds they caused or allowed death of 17-month-old boy in case that echoes Victoria Climbié affair
The abuse of the child, known as Baby P, was said to have taken place over eight months, during which time the boy was on the child protection register of Haringey – the same local authority that was found to have failed seriously in its duty of care to Victoria, who died eight years ago.
The 27-year-old mother of the boy pleaded guilty to causing or allowing his death at the beginning of the trial in September.
One of the men was the 32-year-old boyfriend of the baby's mother. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was cleared of murder. The other man was Jason Owen, 37, who lodged in the same house.
Both men have been remanded in custody to be sentenced on December 15.
Last week, on the orders of the judge, Stephen Kramer QC, the jury found the mother and Owen not guilty of murdering the baby on August 3 last year.
The 17-month-old died after months of being used "as a punchbag" and then having his back and ribs broken, the court heard.
He was seen 60 times by health or social workers during that period, around twice a week. However, close to his death he became unrecognisable, had more than 50 injuries or bruises, and an attempt had been made to cover up the crime.
A postmortem examination revealed the boy had a broken back, eight fractured ribs, missing fingernails and toenails, multiple bruises and an injury to the inside of his mouth. He had also swallowed one of his own teeth. The court heard that his back had been broken by slamming him down over a bent knee or a bannister, which would have left him paralysed.
It is claimed he was taken to hospital three times in the months before his death after being repeatedly beaten and abused. The child was last seen by social services on July 30 – when his mother and her boyfriend had smeared him with chocolate to cover up his injuries, according to Owen - and by a paediatrician two days before his death.
Sally O'Neill QC, prosecuting, told the jury that the boy was taken to a child development clinic at St Ann's hospital, Haringey, on August 1.
By that time he had eight fractured ribs and a broken back, injuries that would have left him in terrible pain and unable to move his legs.
He was examined by a consultant paediatrician, Dr Sabah al-Zayyat, who noted that Baby P appeared "cranky" and "miserable" but did not find any indication that he had fractured ribs or a broken back.
However, two medical experts told the court they believed those injuries would have been evident.
At 11.35am on August 3 2007, an ambulance was called to the house. Its crew found Baby P already stiff and blue in his cot. He was taken to North Middlesex hospital where he was pronounced dead at 12.20pm.
The Old Bailey heard he should have been protected by social workers, police and health professionals, but his mother manipulated them with lies and even got away with smearing him with chocolate to hide bruises.
In the 48 hours before the boy was found dead in his blood-spattered cot, it is claimed that a doctor failed to spot his spine was broken.
Gillie Christou, in charge of social workers looking after children on the register in Haringey, told the court she had agreed to keep the baby with his mother.
She said: "I made the decision at the time based on the material in front of me and based on the background to the case."
Mor Dioum, the director of the Victoria Climbié Foundation, set up to improve child protection, today called for a public inquiry into the death and said the case was worse than that of Victoria.
"The signs were there but were not followed,'' he said. "Systematic and operational failures led to the tragic and sad death of such a beautiful child."
A detective in the case told the court the boy had more than 50 injuries, 15 of them to the mouth, and that the boyfriend was "sadistic - fascinated with pain".
The mother was "a slob, completely divorced from reality. She was living in a dream world and put her lover before her child. She closed her eyes to what was going on."
Outside court today, Detective Superintendent Caroline Bates said police errors were made which caused a delay at the start of the abuse inquiry, but these had not been significant to the outcome.
"With hindsight, having the benefit of a major investigation, we know quite clearly that the mother was lying and trying to subvert agencies involved with the family."
In June, "police officers felt very strongly that [Baby P] should not be returned" to his mother, and a police inspector asked twice if the threshold had been reached to start care proceedings.
"This was a huge tragedy which should have been avoided. If we had only known the truth about the adults in the house," said Bates.
In a statement after the verdicts, Sharon Shoesmith, the chair of Haringey local safeguarding children board, said that in line with government guidelines an independent review into what happened had been set up. Every recommendation had been acted upon, she said.
"This was a young life cut tragically short and our thoughts are with his father and family,'' she said.
"We worked hard to support the family – social workers, health visitors, doctors and nurses all saw him and his mother regularly.
"We made arrangements to protect him, monitoring his progress, and organised for the mother to go on a parenting course. We arranged for a family friend to help with his care, a childminder to look after him four days a week and report any suspicious injuries."
She added that the mother appeared to be cooperating.
Dr Jane Collins, the chief executive of Great Ormond Street hospital, which provided paediatric services to the child, said independent experts were commissioned to looks at decisions and actions of medical staff.
"It is clear that more should have been done when the child was seen by a paediatrician two days before the child died,'' she said.
"The review process is important in understanding what happened and how procedures can be strengthened for the future. Where we have needed to act, we have done so."
Lynne Featherstone, the local MP, said Baby P had fallen through "safety net after safety net".
"The Children's Act was borne out of tragedy in Haringey after the death of Victoria Climbié,'' she said.
"Yet eight years after her death the law created to stop this happening again has failed to prevent a similar tragedy in the same borough.
"We must therefore have a fully independent investigation by the children's commissioner into what went so terribly wrong."
Following the verdicts, the judge excused members of the jury from serving for 10 years, telling them: "You have heard evidence of a harrowing nature and you have seen things which in the course of your everyday life you would not be expected to see."
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