Alfie Steele: Review finds litany of missed opportunities that could have saved schoolboy

A safeguarding report has highlighted a catalogue of missed opportunities to help nine year-old Alfie Steele by professionals.

The schoolboy 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 died on 18 February 2021 at their home in Droitwich.

The Worcestershire Safeguarding Children's Partnership report said professionals from a number of agencies were involved with the family "over an extended period of time".

Separate statistics show 60 calls in total were made to safeguarding authorities about Alfie's wellbeing, with the majority of them being made in the year before his killing.

But it added they "were often hampered by two adults who sought to deliberately lie, mislead and cover up what was happening to this little boy".

The review highlights a home environment fuelled by aggression and abuse, where Alfie could rarely escape it.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that Worcestershire County Council was contacted 36 times between 2018 and 2020 by people who were concerned about Alfie's welfare.

West Mercia Police was contacted 28 times about the boys welfare in the same three years

There were "numerous incidents" where Dirk was aggressive and physically abusive to Alfie, Carla Scott was present and chose not to report them to the police or social workers.

Concerns at the youngsters school grew and was repeatedly reported to be hungry, appearing unkempt with a 'nasty' ear infection and unsettled while in class.

There were suspicions that Carla Scott and Dirk Howell dealt drugs from the family home.

The review said professionals had placed too much reliance on Alfie himself to share “concerns and evidence that he was being abused and harmed”.

Conducted by independent reviewer Jane Wiffin, the report made eight recommendations to agencies including the WSCP and the Probation Service.

Recommendations

The recommendations include a call for practitioners to be provided with guidance to strengthen child protection plans by supporting family members and neighbours who report concerns.

Between May 2019 and January 2020 Howell was subject to post-release supervision by the Probation Service, but the service was unaware he had threatened neighbours with reprisals for reporting concerns about Alfie, a “clear breach” of his supervision requirements.

The 23-page review said: “There were six known incidents of concern raised with the police or children’s services about neighbours or school staff concerns about physical abuse or Dirk Howell’s harsh and cruel practices to Alfie.

“Each incident would be followed up by a police or social worker visit. There was inconsistency when Alfie was spoken to, made complicated by his age and on some occasions the lateness in the day of the visit.

“Too often he was described as ‘safe and well’ when he had not been spoken to.

“The police did not always follow through on injuries noted to Alfie. There were always causal explanations given by Alfie or Carla Scott, but given the context, there should have been more thought given to ensuring that injuries were checked through medical examination.

“These incidents should have led to a strategy discussion and consideration of the need for child protection medicals.

Authorities' response to the report

Speaking after the release of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review West Mercia Police Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Jones said: "We continue to extend our deepest condolences to those who knew Alfie, who will forever miss his warm infectious smile and sense of humour. The loss his family has experienced is immeasurable."

The force referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its involvement.

"Alfie’s family and you, our local communities, deserve to have faith that authorities, including police, will do everything in their power to keep children safe and stop those intent on causing harm and suffering.

"This is why it is important that you understand the partnership’s actions prior to Alfie’s murder, and the measures put in place to ensure children are listened to and kept safe."In the immediate aftermath of Alfie’s murder, we carried out an initial review of West Mercia Police’s involvement with the family. As a direct result, enhanced training has been put in place for our front-line officers and staff to ensure they fully understand the signs of vulnerability, that they are professionally curious and don’t take information on face value. We’ve also worked to ensure that our officers and staff are aware of and consider alternative measures available to us alongside criminal proceedings, such as civil orders.

"After Alfie’s case had been heard in court, we made a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct to ensure independent assessment of our contact with the family. This investigation remains ongoing, but we have committed that the findings will be shared with you as soon as they can.

"We fully support the recommendations of the review and are absolutely committed to working within the partnership to continually develop and improve safeguarding measures for vulnerable children and young people."

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