Christopher Sellman facing long stretch in jail after killing his baby
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Social services chiefs "deeply regret" the tragic circumstances
surrounding the killing of a days-old baby.
A statement has been issued after Christopher Sellman, of The
Hurst, Tonbridge, was convicted of the manslaughter of his baby
Tiffany.
But after the jury acquitted him of murder they heard Sellman
had, years earlier, been cautioned for cruelty to a child.
Now Rosalind Turner, managing director of children, families and
education at Kent County Council, has referred to "human error" in
her statement.
She said: "Human error is always a possibility. In this case on
a single occasion a member of the family mentioned to the
social worker that Christopher Sellman's partner was pregnant.
"The social worker, who had a 30-year career with an exemplary
record, was not dealing directly with the young woman who was
pregnant, and this information did not get registered.
"We deeply regret this."
Ms Turner was speaking after a Maidstone Crown Court jury heard
Sellman, 24, had assaulted his daughter in November 2008, causing a
"catastrophic collapse."
He at first claimed Tiffany had trapped wind and went "floppy",
losing colour. But after it was revealed she had a fractured skull,
he said he had dropped her and she hit her head on a changing
table.
Sellman denied the charges, claiming he did nothing to harm
Tiffany.
The KCC statement said an independent review of the case had
identified a missed opportunity with children's social services to
share information.
It added: "This was an isolated example of human error. Kent
County Council deeply regrets that this has occurrred."
"The council is ever vigilant about how we run our child
protection services."
Sellman's sentencing was adjourned to Inner London Crown
Court on April 28.
Kent social services factfile
- KCC injected a further £1.5m into its children's services after
a 21 per cent increase in cases.
- Each year, between 17,000 to 20,000 children are referred in
Kent
- In the 12 months to March 2009 the number was 17,358
- Of these 1,233 are children who have child protection
plans
Thursday, March 18 2010
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