Nottinghamshire social services criticised over death

Simon and Susan Moody were jailed for child neglect

Social workers responsible for the safety of a child found hanged after suffering neglect were under-trained and over-worked, inspectors say.

Charlotte Avenall, eight, who died after being locked in her "filthy" Nottinghamshire bedroom, had been known to social workers for several years.

The county council's care has been criticised as "inadequate" by Ofsted.

Inspectors found case workers knew Charlotte's parents locked her in her bedroom at night.

Susan and Simon Moody were each sentenced to a year in jail last month after pleading guilty to child neglect.

Delays in action

Charlotte, who had severe learning difficulties, was forced to use her chest of drawers as a toilet and had smeared excrement on the walls and ceiling of her bedroom.

Social workers had visited the family's house in Mansfield weeks before she died, but failed to make a follow up appointment after finding nobody at home.

Ofsted's report stated: "There is a significant shortage of frontline social work staff and the demand for the service, particularly referrals and re-referrals, has increased by 43% resulting in children not being effectively safeguarded."

Inspectors found the quality of assessments was often poor and there were delays in assessing children that could be at risk, as well as in taking action over those identified as at risk of significant harm.

A backlog of 140 children awaiting assessment was found in one office.

In its own serious case review into Charlotte's death the county council said the staff who dealt with the case had been retrained and more administrators had been employed.

Source

~~~~~~~~~~~

Commentary

This is nothing short of a travesty and an atrocity.

Were I the judge on this case, life in prison would be too easy a fate, especially because of the torture they put this poor 8 year old kid through.

So painful was it, and so unbearable, that she hung herself to death, after having wasted her life locked in a basement, forced to use a drawer as a toilet.

To call such adults that tortured this kid, humans, would be too great an honor. The very fact we write their names is an insult.

There is no humane justice in this world that may be inflicted upon them.

May God have mercy on the soul of this child, that had lost all hope, and is now dead because of the heinous crimes of her parents.