Police force refers itself to police watchdog after death of Alfie Steele
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West Mercia Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over its contact with the family of Alfie Steele prior to his death.
The force has described to being 'committed' to transparency and believes its conduct throughout the case of the murder needs to be scrutinised. Acting Deputy Chief Constable Richard Cooper said: “We have been in dialogue with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over our contact with the family of Alfie Steele before his sad death.
"West Mercia Police is committed to ensuring we are transparent and where necessary appropriate scrutiny is applied.
"This includes taking into consideration the view of the IOPC, and on that basis, to ensure an independent assessment, a referral has now been made to the IOPC.“We, of course, remain committed to engaging with the independent Children's Safeguarding Practice Review which will be published in due course.”
Alfie's mother and her partner were found guilty of killing the nine-year-old boy in the bath after months of abuse.
Carla Scott was convicted of the manslaughter of her young son Alfie Steele and her partner Dirk Howell was convicted of murdering the youngster.
Alfie died after being "repeatedly assaulted, beaten", and "held" in a cold bath as punishment by Carla Scott, 35, and Dirk Howell, 41 - both from Birmingham.
He had 50 injuries all over his body - only a handful, medical experts say, would be likely down to normal childhood bumps and scrapes.
The schoolboy, who died on 18 February 2021 at their home in Droitwich, was subjected to a cruel and “sinister” regime of correction by Scott and Howell, both of whom denied murder.
During a trial at Coventry Crown Court, prosecutors said Alfie was subjected to a cruel and "sinister" regime of correction by Scott and Howell at his home in Droitwich, Worcestershire, prior to his death in February 2021.
Howell was jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years for Alfie's murder and charges of child cruelty.
Scott was jailed for 27 years for manslaughter and child cruelty to Alfie, which was committed over an 18-month period.
What happened when the emergency services arrived?
During CPR, paramedics noticed water coming out of Alfie's mouth, although it is not known whether it got inside before or after death.
Alfie was taken to Worcester Royal Hospital, but despite medics' best efforts he was pronounced dead at 3.55pm.
A post-mortem examination concluded the cause of his death was "unascertained".
In court last month, Michelle Heeley KC, prosecuting, said: "He didn't die of natural causes, he had bruises all over his body, and signs that he had been deprived of oxygen.
"The prosecution case is that these defendants are responsible for his unlawful death."
Ms Heeley said Scott had claimed to police officers at her home that she had last seen Howell "a couple of days ago".
"That was a lie. In the first moments when her child was dead her first thought was to lie," she said, adding Scott "lied to protect him".
Howell, who the prosecution said had stayed overnight at the address, was in fact seen by a police officer "by chance" in a nearby street at 2.30pm, just six minutes after Scott's 999 call.
"CCTV footage recovered from houses around the area showed Howell going from Vashon Drive to Droitwich railway station, where he was seen running, not away from the trains, but towards them," said Ms Heeley.
"In fact he tried to open the door of a stationary train, but at that stage police officers who were by now looking for him, arrested him.
"There is no dispute he tried to hide the fact he had been at the house at the time Alfie died and Carla Scott lied to help him.
"What were they both trying to hide at that point? Their guilt. They knew what they had done and Dirk Howell's first instinct was to run."
Jurors were told Howell, of Princip Street, Birmingham, had admitted cruelty offences against other children before the trial.