There were missed opportunities to help two murdered County Durham toddlers in the lead-up to their deaths after their fathers raised concerns about domestic abuse, a new report has found.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Maya Chappell was shaken to death by her mother’s new partner, Michael Daymond, at her Shotton Colliery home in September 2022. Daymond is now serving a sentence for murder, and Maya’s mother Dana Carr was found guilty of child cruelty, neglect, and allowing the death of a child.

Two months after Maya’s tragic murder, Dwelaniyah Robinson, three, died in Ushaw Moor after being violently shaken by his mother Christina Robinson. She was convicted of murder, and a raft of child cruelty offences said to have taken place in the weeks leading up to Dwelaniyah's death.

The Northern Echo: Dwelaniyah Robinson's mum Christina is on trial accused of his murder.

Now, a new report, commissioned by the Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership (DSCP), has identified “missed opportunities” and “similar themes”, but also highlights that child protective agencies were not involved in Maya and Dwelaniyah’s care - and that there was no evidence their deaths could have been prevented.

During both children’s short lives, their fathers had raised concerns about domestic abuse within the home – and the report recommends that police and partner agencies “demonstrate professional curiosity when separated fathers share worries about their children”.

But the DSCP has said they are “committed to learning” from both cases, and agencies are working together to implement recommendations.

The independent report also notes that the universal services that the families had been in contact with, such as health visitors, GPs, schools and community services, could have provided more support had they shown more “professional curiosity”.

Lead reviewer Suzy Kitching MBE writes: “Across both cases, there were opportunities or acute moments where some support may have helped the families, and these relate directly to predisposing vulnerabilities experienced by the parents around mental health, domestic abuse, and parenting experiences.

“Whilst these were hidden vulnerabilities and it is not reasonable to expect they were knowable or could be attributed to events, there were critical moments where the vulnerability around these issues could have been explored by different professionals.”

The Northern Echo:

In the weeks preceding her death, Maya’s father James Chappell had raised concerns about Michael Daymond, who was now living with his daughter, though as these were not specified they were not seen to be significant.

Chappell had phoned Durham’s First Contact service asking for information about Daymond, where he was told to contact the police.

The report says: “Whilst this was appropriate to the request regarding individuals’ private personal information best practice could have offered guidance and access to preventive services for a separated father who was concerned enough to call services, and this would have shown good professional curiosity.”

When Maya’s dad did follow up with police, the matter was progressed through disclosure processes under Claire’s Law, a domestic violence disclosure scheme, and Sarah’s Law, the child sex offenders disclosure scheme.

But when an officer followed this up, calling Maya’s mother Dana, she told them the couple were no longer together, and the matter was closed.

The report states: “The decision to close the request, based solely on mother’s self-report and no follow-up face-to-face visit, showed a limited understanding of the nature of intimate partner violence and abuse and its impact.

“It also prevented any further opportunity to collate details about mother’s new partner and assess any risks.”

Similarly, Dwelaniyah’s father, Gabrial Adu-Appau, had gone to Stockton Police station, where he was working at the time, to disclose an assault by his wife. However, when he said he did not want to pursue the matter, and told officers his wife was a wonderful mother, and any action was discontinued.

The Northern Echo: Body camera footage shows the moment Christina Robinson spoke to police while paramedics worked

Previously, reports uncovered historical information from when Dwelaniyah and his mother had lived in Staffordshire. Adu-Appau had requested a safeguarding check from child services in the locality.

The report writes: “Given the context of the referral i.e., men are less, likely to report an incident than women, a proactive referral to children's services would have been helpful here and included the information about the father worries that mother may leave the country with the children.

“There was certainly enough here to be curious about.”

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Dave Ashton, chair of the Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership, said: “These are deeply distressing cases resulting in the tragic deaths of two young children, and our thoughts and sympathies are very much with all those who loved and cared for them.

“We are committed to learning from the circumstances of each case and commissioned a joint Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, led by an independent author, to look at the responses of the agencies involved in detail and identify any themes around learning and practice.

“The learning arising from the review has been shared across the partnership and we are working together to implement the recommendations.”