Social workers left children at mercy of paedophile Richard Moulding

A CATALOGUE of failings and mistakes by social workers left vulnerable children at risk from a predatory paedophile and their abusive mother, a damning report has revealed.

Family of the children abused by Richard Moulding, who was jailed for life in 2007, have waited nearly two years for the report.

During his trial it emerged that numerous concerns had been raised about Moulding and his contact with the children involved, and no action had been taken by social services or Essex Police.

Documents seen by the Chronicle show that a social worker raised concerns over the children in the case as far back as 2001, while concerns about the mother were first brought to the attention of Social Services in 1992.

It was brought to their attention that the children were not fed properly, had no idea about personal hygiene – not even owning toothbrushes – and their mother was not collecting medicines which had been prescribed for them.

It was also reported that they were regularly being left in the care of a man who was on bail suspected of child rape.

The man committed suicide in March 2002 before his case came to court.

The Chronicle, backed by the father of a child involved, and MP Simon Burns, called for a serious case review into the failings at the conclusion of Moulding’s trial.

Essex County Council referred the case to the Essex Safeguarding Children’s Board, which declined to hold a serious case review but commissioned the NSPCC to carry out an independent investigation.

An executive summary of that report published this week said that although the mother bore “primary responsibility” for what occurred, “despite many referrals and valid expressions of concern, there was an absence of any competent assessment of either her parenting capability or the level of risk to which her children were exposed”.

Information was not properly evaluated, and social workers assigned to the case were frequently changed.

Additionally, concerns about the mother’s “fragile mental health” were prioritised over the welfare of her children.

Health, education and police staff were all criticised for failing to “assert their concerns appropriately”.

The report also highlighted a tendency on the part of social workers to adopt a “fixed” view on the causes of the problems, which they were unwilling to change even in the face of fresh evidence.

It concludes that the review “points to a very worrying lack of commitment to child protection and an absence of a coherent protective network” at the heart of children’s services in Essex, between 1992 and 2007.

Recommendations in the report include prosecuting parents when there is evidence that their negligence has contributed to a child being abused.

It also says: “All agencies should consider whether there are any members of staff, current of former, whose competency has been called into question by the findings of the review and decide whether any further management action is required.”

A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said: “Essex County Council deeply regrets the failure to protect and safeguard the children involved in this case.”

Malcolm Newsam, the council’s executive director for schools, children and families, said it was clear that unacceptable mistakes had been made both by frontline staff and social care management over the 17-year period that the family – referred to as “Lloyd” by the review – were on the Social Services radar.

He said: “Judgements about families hang on the quality of assessments by frontline staff, as well as the quality of the management of those staff.

“This comes across in the report – there were systemic failings that were allowed to go on between 1992 and 2007.

“There were enough warning signs that could have been picked up, and because they weren’t, these children were left at risk of serious harm.

“We have commenced a review of all individual staff and managers and we will come to a judgement based on the findings of the review.”

Mr Newsam did not rule out disciplinary action against anyone, regardless of the length of time since their individual failings took place.

He said: “We will take appropriate action based on the evidence.”

However he said that he is now convinced that procedures have been tightened up – and the massive £90 million investment over the last two years to recruit new social workers has drastically improved the outlook for protecting children across Essex.

He added: “For the first time in a long time we are at the point where, when work comes in, we have the capacity to deal with it.

“We have made dramatic progress in terms of clearing up some of the fundamental problems with the system.”