The handling of the mental health struggles of Charlie Roberts’ mother played a key role in the death of the toddler, a safeguarding report has revealed.
Paula Roberts was well known to social services and mental health teams throughout her adult life but closer monitoring of the impact was required to protect the toddler.
The Darlington Safeguarding Partnership has now published its report into the circumstances leading up to Charlie’s murder at the hands of his mother’s new partner.
Charlie suffered catastrophic brain injuries consistent with vigorous shaking within minutes of him being left in the care of Christopher Stockton last year.
The toddler had suffered a multitude of injuries in the months leading up to his untimely death, including damage to his penis and bruising to his ears and face.
The fatal injuries were inflicted when Stockton had been alone in the house with Charlie for less than half an hour.
Now, an independent report has highlighted failings in making more thorough investigations into the men involved in Charlie’s life, including Stockton, Charlie’s father and family members.
All of the children of Paula Roberts had been known to council social services for several years and were fully aware of her mental health struggles.
There was some intervention in the family home in the early summer of 2023 before the children were reinstated with a support plan put in place to help but no work was done around the behaviour of Stockton.
The report reads: “The impact of these men coming in and out of the children's lives did not form part of the assessment or support plan, and it is noteworthy that the mother's partner was involved and known about at the strategy meeting in May, but there was no engagement with him or understanding about him and his relationship with the children.”
During the trial, jurors heard how Stockton had no history of violence towards his own child but Paula Roberts had installed a secret camera in Charlie’s bedroom fearing he was hurting the toddler.
It added: “There is very little known about the mother’s then-partner; he was included in the statutory investigation following the bruising of Child J in May but was not spoken to because he was reported not to have care of the children unsupervised and did not live in the family home.
“This was based only on the mother's information, and professionals accepted the mother's reporting that he was not ‘living ‘at the family home. Regardless, it is a poor decision not to include all persons who have contact with the children, particularly as the incident was said to have happened over a period of time, including a holiday that included mother's partner.
“There should have been greater curiosity about him and some exploration of his role in the household; there may have been an assumption that he cared for his child and was seen as a capable and safe parent."
The report authors have identified learning for the multi-agency partnership to consider and reflect upon regarding current systems and practice relating to a number of key themes.
They include the children’s lived experience; parental mental health and impact on the family; multi-agency working and providing help, support and protection; unseen/unconsidered adults/caregivers.
The report added: "There was evidence of multi-agency meetings and services, however this was limited or only involved one or two agencies, meaning information was seen in isolation.
"All parts of the family and multi-agency system must be actively engaged in triangulating information to support analysis and ensure help and support can fully meet the children's individual needs within the family.
"There were opportunities to reflect and analyse the family’s history, circumstances, needs, worries and protective factors which were missed and a coordinated multi-agency interdisciplinary response that attended to both the adult and children’s needs could have benefitted the family."
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In conclusion, it read: "This review has identified important learning for the partnership to consider and reflect upon regarding current systems and practice. Child J was an infant with increased vulnerability due to his premature birth, his mother's long-standing mental health difficulties and adversity, and unexplored male associations with the household.
"The learning review has reflected on the broader family circumstances and the vulnerabilities and needs of the children and how services worked together to support the family and help the children thrive."
The chair of Darlington Safeguarding Partnership, Ann Baxter said: "This independent safeguarding practice review explored what happened leading up to the significant incident and reflected on key themes that helped the Partnership understand what happened and what that meant for Child J and other children in the family home to help improve multi-agency responses in the future.
"A number of multi-agency recommendations have been made for the Safeguarding Partnership which are outlined in the report. Steps are being taken to learn from the review and the partnership will continue to review the specific action necessary to strengthen multi-agency working and lead to the improvement of multi-agency services."
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