Star Hobson's great granddad hopeful change is coming to children's services
On Tuesday (25th January) Bradford Council was stripped of its children's services in the wake of Star Hobson's case
Last updated 27th Jan 2022
As a new trust is set up to oversee Bradford's children services, the great grandad of murdered toddler Star Hobson, is hopeful it will bring change.
Over the last 12 years, more than 12,000 referrals have made against 2,002 children.
On Tuesday (25th January) the authority was stripped of its children's services in the wake of Star Hobson's case.
Star's concerned family and friends contacted the authority five times but no action was taken.
What happened to Star Hobson?
16-month-old Star Hobson died from a cardiac arrest in her home in Keighley in September 2020.
She was murdered by her mother, Frankie Smith’s partner, Savannah Brockhill, on 22 September 2020.
In December, Frankie Smith was convicted of causing or allowing the death of her 16-month-old daughter and sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Brockhill was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years in jail.
Both denied the charges.
Earlier this week Bradford Council was stripped of its children's services.
It's been taken into a trust which is hoped will "drive rapid improvements".
We asked Star's great grandad, David Fawcett what his reaction to the news was:
"I was quite pleased, to mirror my partner, she was over the moon, she shouted 'I'm over the moon'.
"I don't know how this is going to work for now, but eventually when it's up and running, if there is anything I'm alarmed about, I will mention it."
He spoke about his experience:
"I just thought, oh they'll get in touch, and it was one of the children who came down and said it was closed, I was shocked, we hadn't heard anything."
An NSPCC spokesperson said:
“This is an important opportunity that can bring a level of independence to help overcome the challenges in Bradford, but it will be crucial to ensure children’s needs are central to the transition process.
“We also need to see concerted Government leadership at a national level to address the systemic issues affecting children’s services across the country, alongside a commitment to invest in safeguarding children.”
A Bradford Council spokesperson said:
“We understand that many people are angry about what has happened. Our priority is to put children first as we work with the government to continue to improve services for young people across our district. To do this we need to ensure stability within our workforce and leadership as we focus on putting these new arrangements in place.”