Social Worker & Police Pleaded For Baby P To Be Taken Away From Mother

A SENIOR social worker and police called for Baby P to be taken into care before he died, it emerged today. The first call came after the boy was admitted to hospital in December 2006 suffering from bruising that police feared could have been caused by abuse.

As a result, the boy’s mother — who has since been convicted of causing or allowing his death — was arrested on suspicion of child cruelty, while the child was removed from her care and given to a family friend to look after.

Although insufficient evidence could be found to mount a prosecution, it has emerged that senior Haringey social worker Sylvia Henry opposed the idea of returning the child to his mother.

The police pressed for the toddler to be taken into care after he was again admitted to hospital in June 2007 over renewed concerns about potential child abuse but were also over-ruled after a “frank exchange” of views with senior Haringey social workers.

The two decisions, which could have led to an emergency care order being obtained to secure the child’s safety on either occasion, meant that the boy was twice handed back to his mother — paving the way to his death in August last year.

The disclosures come in an investigation for the BBC’s Panorama programme to be broadcast tonight. It states that Ms Henry, one of the key figures in charge of Baby P’s case, wanted him to be kept away from his family and had found him a foster parent.

But she was over-ruled and a decision was taken to hand Baby P to a family friend, Angela Godfrey, who looked after him for five weeks before returning him to his mother when the cruelty investigation failed to proceed.

Tonight’s report claims that Ms Henry was “very reluctant” to agree to this course of action and said that the boy should “remain out of the care of his mother”, but was forced to accept his return by her superiors. According to Ms Henry, one reason for this was that council chiefs were being told by Ms Godfrey — who allegedly demanded a “large sum” of money to look after Baby P — that social workers were over-reacting and that the mother’s explanation that the bruising was the result of rough play and head-banging was correct. As a result, the boy was given back to his mother in January last year.

The second split came in June that year, when the child was admitted to the North Middlesex Hospital with what appeared to be non-accidental injuries. Police wanted him taken into care and, according to a confidential report obtained by the BBC, had a “frank exchange of views” with Haringey, who preferred to return him to his mother. The police eventually agreed to sign a care plan that allowed Baby P to be returned home, where he died two months later.

Meanwhile, in a newspaper interview today, the child’s grandmother — who cannot be named for legal reasons — claimed that she warned Haringey staff several times that the child was being abused. She suspected the mother’s boyfriend — who last week was convicted along with lodger Jason Owen, 36, and the child’s mother, of causing or allowing the baby’s death — of being responsible — but claims she was rebuffed. Baby P’s 27-year-old mother had pleaded guilty to the same charge. All three have been warned they will receive lengthy jail terms next month.

Haringey today insisted that the decision to hand Baby P to Ms Godfrey had been agreed by all those involved. It said in a statement: “No concerns were raised regarding placement. It was decided that he would not return home until there had been a multi-agency meeting. That meeting agreed a plan for his return and this was agreed with the police.”

The council said the “frank exchange” between police and social workers was not unusual, but again insisted an agreement had been reached that it was right not to take the boy into care. The council also said it was not seeking to escape all blame. “We have accepted that more could have been done to protect Baby P. We are truly sorry for that.”