Mummifed Boy Hamzah 'Let Down' By Systems

By Gerard Tubb, North of England Correspondent

The official report into the death of four-year-old Hamzah Khan who was starved by his mother in Bradford has been condemned by the Government as "a rubbish document".

The serious case review (SCR) concluded that Hamzah's death "could not have been predicted" and said it was systems that failed him, not people.

The boy's mother Amanda Hutton, 43, was jailed for 15 years last month after his mummified body was found in a cot in her bedroom in 2011, almost two years after he died.

At a highly-charged news conference the heads of agencies involved in Hamzah's life repeatedly refused to apologise personally, saying no individual was to blame.

Professor Nick Frost, independent chair of the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board, said: "The SCR is very clear that Hamzah's death could not have been predicted but finds that systems, many of them national systems, let Hamzah down both before and following his death."

After more than an hour of questioning, Kath Tunstall, the strategic director of Children's Services for Bradford, told journalists: "We are all sorry for what has happened."

Amanda Hutton's kitchen was full of rubbish

But the Department for Education (DfE) condemned the report, telling Sky News: "There will have to be a proper investigation to answer the serious questions it raises".

A DfE source said: "It's even more worrying that local agencies don't realise how poor an investigation this is."

And Children's Minister Edward Timpson said he has "deep concerns" because it "fails to explain sufficiently clearly the actions taken, or not taken, by children's social care".

Mr Timpson demanded that Bradford's Safeguarding Children Board answer 10 key questions missing from the report.

He said the answers to the "glaring absences" from the review must be made public to "ensure such mistakes will not be repeated in the future".

Prof Frost said: "It is my responsibility, as independent chair, to ensure that lessons are learnt."

Hamzah's father Aftab Khan

He promised to write to the minister immediately and said the answers to his questions would be provided.

"Very sadly, I cannot give assurances that a tragedy like this will never happen again in our country - as we can't control or predict the behaviour of all parents, the vast majority of whom are doing their very best to care for their children," he said.

"However, I can assure you that at this stage I am satisfied each agency is responding adequately but this is an ongoing process which requires constant monitoring.

"No child should go through what Hamzah experienced. I am satisfied that systems are in place today that minimise the chance of a situation such as this ever being repeated in Bradford."

Bradford Crown Court heard how alcoholic Hutton was living in "breathtakingly awful" conditions with five of her young children as well as Hamzah's mummified remains when shocked police entered the four-bedroom house in September 2011.

A jury found she had allowed Hamzah to starve to death in December 2009 and left his body in a cot with a teddy.

The remains were only discovered due to a rookie police community support officer's tenacious pursuit of a minor anti-social behaviour complaint because she knew something was wrong.

The family was known to all the main agencies yet Hutton had a history of failing to co-operate with services that could have helped her.

Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "Tragically Hamzah became invisible, slipping off the radar of our entire society the moment he left hospital after birth.

"We have to ask how this could happen in 21st century Britain. His mother made no attempt to register his birth; he missed midwife appointments, health visitor checks, immunisations; and he was never registered for school.

"A red flag must be raised when key appointments are missed so that children cannot disappear.

"It cannot be right that the first time someone took serious steps to track him down was six years after his birth by which time he was already dead."

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