Four young children who died in a house fire after their parents fell asleep while smoking in bed were so badly neglected they only 'communicated by grunting' and suffered dozens of accidental injuries, a report has found.
Social services were said to have 'fallen short' in protecting Riley Holt, eight, and siblings Keegan, Tilly and Olly Unitt, aged six, four and three, who all died when a blaze broke out at their family home in Stafford, Staffordshire, in February last year.
Their youngest brother, aged just two at the time, survived the tragedy.
As investigations took place, it emerged that parents Natalie Unitt and Christopher Moulton had been smoking in bed that night. A discarded cigarette is thought to have sparked the devastating fire.
Report author Joanna Nicolas said the tragedy highlighted the need to treat neglect as having just as damaging an impact on a child as physical or sexual abuse. And she found similarities with several other serious case reviews in Staffordshire, where 'long-term neglect has not been well-managed'.
The Unitt family had first come to the attention of Staffordshire County Council in 2017. A child protection plan was later put in place, although little progress was made.
The report said: 'One of the greatest concerns about the children was their lack of speech. Professionals described the home as silent, despite there being five children in it.'
During an appointment with a paediatrician, one of the youngsters simply 'grunted and pointed at things'. Another had a 'frozen expression' in front of a social worker, showing no response.
The children, who also had signs of development delay, were referred for speech and language therapy.
'There is considerable evidence that the children were not given sufficient stimulation, supervision or guidance,' added Ms Nicolas.
One of them was simply put by the TV in their pushchair.
Nursery staff had also become concerned after finding another child appeared not to have had their nappy changed since the previous night.
More than 50 injuries, marks or bruises were seen on the children over a 17-month period.
-- Edited by Digger on Tuesday 15th of December 2020 02:15:08 PM
This is one of those examples that demonstrate that just because the government charges the taxpayer for some level of care for those that need it, they dont always get it.
Social services are funded to provide care for people, especially children.
In theory that's correct, in practice it's not.
I think a great deal of government spending is a waste. But I do support taking care of kids and it seems that there was plenty of evidence these kids needed help.
Per as usual, governmental priorities are all askew.
-- Edited by Maddog on Tuesday 15th of December 2020 03:39:37 PM
Social services in that area should be investigated.
The children were well known to them, they were obviously at risk, yet nothing was done to help them.
It's heartbreaking when we hear of cases like this, and no doubt teachers, neighbours, other family members all looked the other way too.
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