Social workers do their utmost to protect children, say Leicestershire council bosses

Social workers do their utmost to protect the most vulnerable children in society, County Hall said last night.

The comment came after the Leicester Mercury reported, on Saturday, how social services left Zak Whitlock with his baby daughter despite a trainee probation officer warning – four months before the child was born – that the father could harm her.

Whitlock, 21, lost his temper, smashing the child’s skull, causing irreparable damage and fracturing a rib.

Now, a serious case review is to be carried out by Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Local Safeguarding Children Board, which links all the agencies involved in working with children, young people and families in the counties.

Even though Whitlock’s daughter was not killed, the case was deemed so serious that a review was needed.

The review will be the third serious case review involving Leicestershire County Council in just over three years.

It will follow a review carried out after Nathan Grain fed three-month-old son Luke a lethal dose of heroin substitute methadone and tranquilliser diazepam.

Grain, 34, told Leicester Crown Court he had fed Luke the drugs to calm him down, or relieve the pain of teething.

Grain, of Patterson Place, Shepshed, was convicted of manslaughter.

The authorities knew that both parents abused illicit drugs and medication.

The review into the case of the child, known as LG, concluded when the findings were published in November 2006 that the death “could not have been foreseen.”

A review was also carried out into the case of 10-week-old LR, who was taken to hospital with suspicious injuries. She later died.

There were no convictions, and no recommendations arose from the review, published in November 2007.

Gareth Williams, director of the county council’s children and young people’s service, said: “The case of LG highlighted the need for children’s and adults’ social care to work more closely and steps have been taken to achieve this.

“These include joint management meetings, more intensive sharing of information and enhanced training for newly-qualified social workers.

“Ultimately in the case of LR, the view was formed that this was a tragic but isolated incident and that no formal action could have been taken to prevent the death.

“Leicestershire County Council does its utmost to protect the most vulnerable children in society. Where a tragedy highlights the fact we can improve our procedures, we immediately do so.”

An NSPCC spokesman said reviews were important but often flawed. “Too often these reviews do not say clearly what went wrong,” he said.

Whitlock is serving a four-and-a-half year minimum public protection term.