Penistone Boys' Fire Deaths "Could Not Have Been Predicted"

The deaths of two brothers, who were killed in a house fire in Penistone which was started by their father, could not have been predicted by anyone''.

That's the conclusion of a serious case review.

Jack Sykes, 12, and younger brother Paul, nine, died after a blaze on October 22 2014.

Earlier this year, an inquest heard how the boys' father, Darren Sykes, lured his sons into the attic of the property in Tennyson Close with a new train set and then barricaded house before setting it on fire.

The two boys were rescued from the house with their father but Paul and Mr Sykes, 44, died later the same evening.

Jack was taken to a specialist unit in Manchester but died almost a week later.

Barnsley Safeguarding Children Board has published a serious case review which concluded:

The deliberate, devastating actions of (Mr Sykes) on 22 October 2014 could not have been predicted by anyone.''

The report said:

Research suggests that such incidents are rare, that the vast majority of estranged fathers would not consider such actions and that there is no known way of identifying those who will do so. Historically there was no information regarding the family to cause concerns.

Neither (Mr Sykes's) known offending history nor his mental health history was sufficient to make agencies believe that he posed a significant threat to himself or others.'

The coroner made it clear at the inquest into the children's deaths that there was no knowledge by a public authority of any identifiable risk of such an event taking place and that none of the agencies involved with the family had fundamentally failed in their duty to the family.''

Coroner Chris Dorries concluded in March that the two boys had been unlawfully killed and Mr Sykes's death was suicide.

Bob Dyson, the Independent Chair, Barnsley Safeguarding Children Board, said:

"In publishing this Serious Case Review our thoughts are with the family of Children P, who have lost their loved ones in such tragic circumstances. "The review was conducted by an independent author who has considerable experience in carrying out Serious Case Reviews. All agencies involved with the family have participated fully in the review. The reviewer met with the mother of the two children as part of the review. "This review follows the Coroner's inquest that found the death of the children was an unlawful killing and there was no knowledge by a public authority of any identifiable risk of such an event taking place. He found that none of the agencies involved with the family had fundamentally failed in their duty to the family. "This Serious Case Review's findings are in accord with the findings of the Coroner. Such reviews do reveal areas for improvement or lessons learned. There is a robust process in place to ensure the recommendations, many of which were identified by the agencies themselves, are implemented."

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