Calls for tougher and quicker action after Alfie Steele killed by mum and partner
An expert is calling for tougher and quicker action when concerns are raised over a child's welfare
A safeguarding expert says lessons have to be learnt - and not just talked about - after the death of Alfie Steele in Droitwich.
Carla Scott, 35, and her partner Dirk Howell, 41, were found guilty of killing Alfie at the home in Vashon Drive.
They had a sinister regime of correction which saw Alfie "dunked" in a bath of cold water and made to stand outside if he misbehaved.
But both were known to social services, with a review now underway.
Matt Sparling, a safeguarding expert from the West Midlands, said it was frustrating that time after time, agencies say lessons need to be learnt but sometimes aren't.
"I think there's system changes that need to take place," he said.
"I'm conscious of the world we're living in and in times of money being tight and government departments struggling and all those sorts of things but I think we do have to look at taking more immediate and more effective action when children are in significant danger."
He added: "I work with schools all the time and they're dealing with child protection cases that are taking a long time to get to legal proceedings.
"In a lot of cases, the long term damage to these children, even if they're not being physically abused, the neglect and the emotional abuse and the impact on them over time means that they have been damaged and we we need to act.
"If we can take steps, take them quicker and put things in place faster."
Dirk Howell, who was found guilty of murder, flouted an order by social services preventing him from staying overnight with Alfie's mum.
Child abuse solicitor Malcolm Johnson said neighbours reported this - and suspected abuse - to police.
"You have a plan or an order that's being flouted by one of the assailants, and what we need to know is why that wasn't followed up," he said.
"But what the Covid lockdown would have meant is that Alfie would not have been at school throughout all of that time.
"One way in which abuse has picked up is quite simply from the teacher."
He also said cases where children are abused and injured by their parents are more common than people think.
"You can write all the procedures you like, you can have all the laws that you like, but the problem is that what goes wrong is it's the implementation," he added.
"All safeguarding policies are only as good as the way in which they are implemented, and the problem is that it only takes one mistake."
Scott, who was found guilty of manslaughter after a six-week trial at Coventry Crown Court, and Howell, of Princip Street in Birmingham, will be sentenced at Coventry Crown Court on Thursday.
Stephen Eccleston, independent chair of Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership, said: "Members of the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership are shocked and saddened by the death of Alfie.
"On behalf of the partnership I would like to take this opportunity to pass on our condolences to Alfie's family.
"Following his death, we began a process of conducting a local Child Safeguarding Practice Review.
"With the completion of the trial, we will now be asking the independent reviewer to complete the review.
"The report is due to be published later this year and we will consider further comment at that time."