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Children’s Minister demands answers over Hamzah Khan’s death (14 November 2013)

Date: 14/11/2013
Duncan Lewis, Family Solicitors, Children’s Minister demands answers over Hamzah Khan’s death

The Children’s and Families Minister Edward Timson has expressed concern over a report into the death of four-year-old Hamzah Khan, who was left to starve to death by his mother.

The body of the child was not found until two years after his death. He was found wearing a babygro suit covered by blankets in his cot at his Bradford home in 2011.

A report into the child’s death has said he was failed by “national systems” – but Mr Timson claims that the report published after a serious case review does not explain why chances to protect Hamza were missed.

Chairman of Bradford Safeguarding Children Board, Professor Nick Frost, said that the review made it “very clear that Hamzah's death could not have been predicted”.

The Children’s Minister has, however, called for “glaring absences” from the review to be made public. He added that the serious case review into Hamzah Khan’s death failed to explain adequately the actions taken by social workers when they were alerted to the issues regarding Hamzah Khan’s family.

Mr Timson said answers were needed so that mistakes would not be repeated in the future.

Prof Frost said that national systems had let the little boy down, both during his lifetime and after his death.

In October, the child’s mother, 43-year-old Amanda Hutton, was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 15 years for her son’s death. When the child failed to start school in 2010, she had claimed he was in Portsmouth with an uncle.

Hamzah did not receive routine immunisations, see GPs or health visitors, or keep hospital appointments. But the strategic director of Children's Services in Bradford, Kath Tunstall, said there had been no attempt to “whitewash” any issues in the serious case review into Hamzah’s death and care.

“We are determined to improve – we are constantly wanting to learn and improve, said Ms Tunstall in response to comments from the Children’s Minister about the review.
"If the Minister is going to assist us with that by asking more challenging questions, then we welcome that,” she added.
Kath Tunstall has confirmed to MPs that no serious concerns were reported to the statutory agencies regarding Hamzah.

However, the trial into the death of Hamzah Khan revealed harrowing details of his home life. His mother Amanda Hutton – reported to be an alcoholic – was estranged from Hamzah’s father and lived with five of her eight children in squalid conditions, with rubbish piling up in the home. Hamzah’s body was mummified when found.

Neighbours and Hamzah’s father claim social services in the area were aware of issues surrounding the family. Hamzah’s father Aftab Khan said that he was ignored by both the police and social services.

In the last eight years, seven cases of children who died from starvation in the UK have been reported in the media. However, research for the NSPCC shows that child protection authorities were not aware of the risk to them of starvation until after their deaths.

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