ENGLAND • Tia RIGG - 12 yo (2010) - Manchester

A 12-year-old girl who
was raped and murdered by her uncle in Manchester was failed by child
protection agencies, an independent inquiry has found.
However, the murder of Tia Rigg was not predictable or preventable, the serious case review said.


Ongoing harm to Tia, due to poor care from her mother, could have been prevented, it added.
John Maden, 38, killed Tia at his home in Cheetham Hill on 3 April last year. He was jailed for life last October.
Mr Justice Keith, at Manchester Crown Court, told Maden - who
had lured Tia to his home on the pretext of babysitting - that he would
never be eligible for parole.
A serious case review into Salford social service's dealings with Tia was undertaken following her death.
'Serious failings'
She was known to child protection agencies, having been placed on the child protection register before she was born.
She had been the subject of a child protection plan in a
number of local authorities, including Salford where she lived before
her death.
Maden was not known to agencies, the report said.
The report found "a number of serious failings in the management of this case".
They included:

• an "over optimistic and unrealistic perception" of adult A's (Tia's mother's) capacity to care for the children
  
• allowing the children to remain with their mother 18 months before Tia's death, despite domestic violence and suicide attempts
  
• seven separate incidents between October 2009 and March 2010 where agencies should have intervened - but failed to do so
  
• "numerous examples" where information should have been shared between agencies
  
• a failure to appreciate the "growing chaos" within the family
  
• legal proceedings should have been considered to safeguard Tia and her siblings
  
• information about Tia's mother was not properly analysed to give an understanding of the risks to her children
  

Removing Tia and her siblings from their mother's care "should have been very seriously considered", it said.
Tia's mother had a long history of offending and drug abuse, the report said.
In 1998, child protection agencies said she was "likely to
suffer neglect". This was later changed to "likely to suffer physical
abuse".
In 2001 Tia was removed from the child protection register.
She was not placed back on it in 2004, despite concerns about domestic
abuse.
Four years later, Tia and three siblings were made the subject of child protection plans.
'Drugs and violence'
Tia was placed in the care of extended family but returned to
her mother in October 2008, after she fell out with her aunt's family.
The following May, the Child Protection Review Conference decided the child protection plans would be discontinued.The report said that decision was "flawed", and was based on inaccurate information about the progress Tia's mother was making.
She was still taking drugs and there were issues of violence in the family.
Tia effectively took care of her siblings - something never considered by the agencies, the report found.
In 2009, Salford social services and other agencies were
criticised after toddler Demi Leigh Mahon was murdered by a babysitter.
In that case, social workers knew the family but a protection plan had
not been set up.
Councillor John Merry, leader of Salford council, said: "This
is a tragic case and our thoughts remain with this child's family.
"No-one could have predicted what happened to her when she
visited her uncle that day, but we know more could have been done during
her childhood to support her in coping with her unstable home life.
"However, even if this child has been removed from her home,
she would not have been prevented from having contact with her family as
there was no indication she was at risk from her uncle and therefore no
reason to stop her having access to him and other members of the
extended family.
"Removing her from her home would therefore not have prevented her death."
He said the authority had taken the review's recommendations
"very seriously" and Ofsted had recognised improvements had been made.
"But I know we still have work to do and we are committed to
continuing to improve the service we provide to protect children and
young people living in Salford," he added.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-13381695

Salford council slammed over 'serious failings' in care of 12-year-old Tia Rigg before she was murdered by her uncle

Exclusive by Neal Keeling and Pete Bainbridge

May 13, 2011


Tia Rigg, 12, was tortured, raped and stabbed by her uncle

Social services missed SEVEN chances to help a 12-year-old girl murdered by her perverted uncle.

Tia Rigg was tortured, raped and stabbed to death by John Maden after he lured her to his Cheetham Hill home.

Today, a probe into her death found a string of ‘serious failings’ by Salford’s crisis-hit children's services department.

Tia and her family were known to social workers as a result of a ‘significant amount’ of information about her mother, Lynn Rigg.

There were so many concerns that 12-year-old Tia had been put on the child protection register before she was even born.

The report found information about the family was never properly analysed to get an accurate understanding of the level of risk to Ms Rigg’s children.

Between October 2009 and March last year there were seven incidents within Tia’s family which should have prompted Salford children’s services to consider taking legal action to protect her and her siblings.

These included her mother attempting suicide in front of her children, one child being left ‘home alone’ and violence between family members.


The report says: "The failure to take such action and to hold strategy meetings between police, children’s social care services, and other key agencies was a significant feature in this case."

The probe – carried out on behalf of the Salford safeguarding children's board – also found ‘serious skills deficits’ by social workers who looked at information about the family.

It concluded that, despite the failings, the death of Tia was ‘not predictable or preventable’.

The authors found there was no reason for any family member to anticipate that Tia would have been subjected to such an horrific assault at the hands of Maden, who she visited regularly.

But they added that the ‘ongoing harm’ to Tia, because of the poor quality of care offered by her mother, was ‘predictable’ – and could have been prevented had she had been legally removed and placed in a home.

There were numerous examples where information should have been routinely shared between agencies but was not, they found.

That effectively meant there was only a partial understanding of problems of the family, who lived in Kimberley Street, Higher Broughton.

The report also identified ‘very worrying’ gaps in communication between various health teams, including GPs. Information sharing between schools was also patchy, it found.

Tia’s mother had a long history of drug abuse and the full impact of that on her children was not fully appreciated, said the report.

It said: "The combination of drugs misuse, domestic violence, and parental mental health, alongside historical factors, should have led to a much higher level of concern than was seen in this case."

Maden was jailed for life last October after a court heard how he persuaded Tia to go to his flat in Cheetham Hill, on April 3, on the pretext of babysitting.

He then drugged and killed her before calling police to confess the crime in a ‘chillingly calm’ manner.

Council leader John Merry said Tia’s was a tragic case and admitted more could have been done to support her in coping with her unstable home life. But he added: "Even if this child had been removed from her home, she would not have been prevented from having contact with her uncle as there was no indication she was at risk from him."

The report in Tia’s death comes after four years of turmoil in the city’s children's services department.

It has twice been branded inadequate by government inspectors and is currently in special measures.

Two years ago, a damning review into the case of another murdered child in Salford, two-year-old Demi Leigh Mahon, was published.

Social workers who were warned 12 times by police, neighbours, and relatives about her chaotic domestic life.

Last December, Jill Baker, director of children services, was sacked. She is claiming unfair dismissal and a tribunal is due to restart in August.

Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton, said: "This report recognises mistakes but fails to point out what is plain as a pikestaff – that this child should not have been in that home."


http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1420679_salford-council-slammed-over-serious-failings-in-care-of-12-year-old-tia-rigg-before-she-was-murdered-by-her-uncle