Peter Connelly also known as Baby P was a British 17-months old boy who died in London in August 2007 after suffering more than 50 injuries over the eight-months period, during which he was repeatedly seen by Haringey Children’s Services, NHS Health Professionals and the Police; all who committed a catalogue of errors which led to the Death of Baby P at the hand of his mother and her sadistic boyfriend (Mr H Baker).
According to the two Serious Case Review (SCR) released by the coalition and then Children Health Secretary Ed ball, which found the youngster’s ‘horrifying’ death ‘could and should’ have been prevented by the public workers charged with protecting him.
Baby P’s mother (Tracey Connelly) told her social worker that she had a boyfriend and in mid-2007, she named him as her next of Kin in health records. The social worker did not ask who he was or request to meet him. Also child protection officials failed to established Baker’s identity , interview him and carry out background checks on him. The report also stated that the social worker never thought Baby P was being harmed and considered his care to be ‘a routine, low risk case, requiring family support’. Baby P’s mother was disorganised, dirty and smelly and was without much conscience but social worker failed to confront her because she intimidated staff. Crucially, social workers accepted Connelly’s litany of lies about what happened to her, who she was living with and who had contact with her child. The report makes it clear that the warning signs were there from the start, as, just days after Peter was born, a health worker visited the home and found it to be ‘very untidy’, the case was placed in a blue folder indicating it was a cause for concern- yet he was still failed until the day he died in a blood-spattered cot in Tottenham, north east London.
Throughout, health officials as well as the Police took a ‘sanguine’ view of Peter’s injuries. Even when doctors took the view