BSCB2015-16/03

Published 18/11/2020

This review focuses on two young children who sustained non-accidental injuries in the autumn of 2015. The children, who were both under one year old and had health concerns, were being cared for by their teenage parents at the time. Both parents experienced troubled childhoods and were brought up in home conditions where violence and parental drug and alcohol abuse featured. As a result, their families were known to agencies in Birmingham. The police investigation was complex and concluded nearly five years after the original offences occurred. The mother pleaded guilty to child cruelty and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. The independent review concluded that the injuries to the children did not appear to be deliberate mistreatment or abuse, but a result of the parents’ inability to cope. Most importantly, both children are doing well, living with their adoptive parents. During the intervening period there have been significant improvements to practice and enhanced coordination of partnership intervention through the Children’s Advice and Support Service and Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub.