EXCLUSIVE: government was warned Sheffield teen was vulnerable before he was killed
Sam Baker's MP wrote to the Education Secretary to highlight his case
We can exclusively reveal the government was warned a Sheffield teenager was vulnerable weeks BEFORE he was stabbed to death.
15 year old Sam Baker was killed in Lowedges in 2018 after being kicked out of school and exploited by criminal gangs.
A report yesterday found opportunities were missed by services to direct the teenager away from crime.
But now we've discovered his MP Louise Haigh wrote to the Education Secretary weeks before he died asking for help to get him back into school.
She told us his death was 'utterly forseeable':
"Sam Baker was known well to the authorities - to the schools in Sheffield, to the police, to the youth justice system, to social services, even to myself. We were warning that something like this would happen if agencies, the schools, the government didn't step in.
"He just was not given the support he needed to try and get back into school.
"Certain schools didn't step forward and put him on their roll when they should have done. And there wasn't the support available to make sure he was then put in the right educational placement. That clearly had an impact."
Sam's family moved to Sheffield from overseas in 2014, fleeing from his father who was abusive. He was placed in a schoool, different to the one his siblings went to, and was originally described as a 'very polite, very respectful boy.'
But in September 2015 he sister died in a house fire and he never got any professional counselling for his bereavement.
He went on to have poor attendance and behaviour at school and was removed from their roll in December 2015. He got a place at another school but struggled there and his mum ended up home educating him.
The teenager then went on to have several missing episodes and was exploited into gangs by older children and adults. His offending started as shop lifting but rapidly became more serious until he was stabbed to death in Lowedges in 2018.
Louise says there are lessons that need to be learned from Sam's case:
"We need to use this moment to drive real change to make sure we end this cycle of violence and that we step up and say that Sheffield will not stand for this any more. We will not stand for our services failing our young people at this kind of scale.
"It is no wonder, when we are leaving kids out of education, on the streets, unprotected, unsupported, that they are then picked up by ruthless organised criminal gangs.
"Then they end up committing or fall victim to violent crime. It needs to have a coordinated strategy on a local level but the governmnent needs to get a grip of this as well."
The report from Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board made a total of 19 recommendations including better bereavement support and help for children who fall off school rolls.
Weekly meetings are now going to be held with a number of agencies to make sure there's support for kids who aren't enrolled at school.
We've contacted the Department for Education for their response.