Death of baby of killer Christopher Sellman could have been averted: inquiry
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By political editor Paul Francis
The death of a 25-day-old baby at the hands of her violent
father could have been averted, an independent report has
concluded.
An inquiry into the death of baby Tiffany Sellman Burdge, who
was killed by her father Christopher Sellman, 25, of Tonbridge, has
found two chances to act on warnings and recognise the risk were
missed.
Both opportunities to act followed concerns raised about Sellman
by Tiffany's grandparents before she was born, first with a health
visitor and later when they raised the same concerns with a social
worker.
On both occasions, the warnings were not heeded and in the case
of the health visitor, not passed on to children's social services.
In the case of the social worker, the information was not acted
upon.
Sellman, 25, was found guilty of
manslaughter this week. The court heard he had a previous
conviction for violence and had been cautioned for child
cruelty.
A 20-page executive summary detailing the findings of the
independent Serious Case Review into Tiffany's death published
today states that the likelihood of Tiffany's suffering
physical abuse and neglect was "highly predictable", but her dying
as a consequence was not.
It finds that had the agencies involved identified Christopher
Sellman as the father and known about the childhood problems of
Tiffany's mother, Pamela, child protection measures would have been
triggered before she was born and arrangements made to take her
into care when she was.
The inquiry found: "had these connections been made, [Tiffany's]
death might well have been averted. A number of opportunities to do
this were missed within children's social services and health
agencies and it is a sad conclusion of this review that her death
was preventable."
The report says the concerns expressed about Sellman by
Tiffany's grandparents represented "optimum opportunities to
recognise the risk and act upon it."
It also says potential risks to the baby might have been
identified by community midwives before Tiffany was bornThe review calls for a review of how
information about adults who pose a risk to children is stored and
shared across all statutory agencies.
It makes a total of 14 different recommendations for the
different agencies involved in Tiffany's case, including KCC, Kent
and Medway NHS, Kent Police and the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells
NHS Trust.
In a statement, David Warlock,the chairman of the Kent
Safeguarding Children Board, said:
"This is a very distressing case and I would like to express my
sadness at Tiffany's death. The death of any child is deeply
upsetting and when a child dies in these circumstances it is only
right for all of the agencies involved to look at their practices
and seek to learn lessons wherever possible.
"The findings have been accepted and several recommendations
made, all of which are being acted on."
Friday, March 19 2010
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