Eight Chances to Save Victoria Climbié
“You could beat her and she would not cry at all. She could take the beatings and pain like anything.”
Eight-year-old Victoria Climbié will forever be etched into the minds and hearts of the British public as a little girl who was failed by society at every level. On 25th February 2000, Victoria’s tiny 52lb body succumbed to hypothermia following a prolonged period of physical abuse and neglect, and she passed away.
Not only was Victoria severely mistreated by a relative who was supposed to love and care for her, she was also overlooked by local authorities, medical professionals and social care systems in place to protect the most vulnerable.
Background
In 1998, Victoria’s parents saw a golden opportunity when family member Marie-Thérèse Kouao offered to take Victoria away from her impoverished home in Ivory Coast and relocate with her to France. Although initially reluctant due to the distance, the advantages of a better education swayed the parents’ decision to let their daughter go. After all, Victoria would be safe in the care of her trustworthy great-aunt — or so they thought.
Victoria ended up living with Kouao and her boyfriend, bus driver Carl Manning, in his tiny studio flat in Tottenham, London. Within 18 months of leaving her native country, she had endured so much abuse that her tiny body finally succumbed to 128 horrific injuries, and she died in the intensive care unit at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London. She was aged just 8 years and 3 months old. The Home Office pathologist who examined Victoria’s body described what he saw as “the worst case of child abuse” he had ever dealt with. Despite concerns raised from members of the public, and even encounters with doctors and social services, the British authorities failed to act.
Eight Failures
This article outlines the 8 occasions on which Victoria Climbié’s death could have been prevented and highlights exactly why her case rightfully provoked major changes in UK child protection policies:
- Between April and July 1999, Victoria accompanied Kouao on 7 different occasions to visit social workers in an attempt to secure housing support. One member of staff noted Victoria’s dishevelled and close to underweight appearance, even likening her to a child who may appear on an ‘ActionAid’ poster. However, any genuine concern was refuted, as it was common for adults to bring in unkempt children as a means of receiving pity and being prioritised.
- In June 1999, a distant relative named Esther came to visit. After leaving, she anonymously contacted local authorities about her concerns of abuse after noticing a fresh scar on Victoria’s body, and also reported that the young girl was losing weight rapidly. She was so suspicious that she contacted authorities a second time, just to check that progress was being made. They assured Esther that something would be done, but no action was actually taken.
- In July 1999, Kouao moved into a different London apartment with her new boyfriend, Carl Manning, and Victoria’s abuse worsened. Kouao began working, so hired a childminder named Avril, who became so concerned by Victoria’s injuries that she took her directly to hospital. A doctor performed a 2 hour examination of Victoria’s injuries and identified cigarette burns on her thigh. However, another consultant disregards the burns as a symptom of scabies and insists Victoria had just been scratching them due to irritation. The cigarette burns were ultimately considered to be self-inflicted injuries, and she was discharged.
- Later that same month, Victoria was again admitted to hospital with severe burns to her head and neck, resulting in horrific facial disfigurement. Marie-Thérèse simply explained that Victoria had held her head under scalding water to get rid of the scabies. This was accepted as an explanation, despite nursing staff noting a belt-buckle imprint on Victoria’s body. They also observed a “master-servant” relationship, and how Victoria was so frightened when her guardian came to visit that she wet herself. Victoria remained in the hospital for 2 weeks, but nobody asked her directly about the injuries. She was discharged and returned home back to her abusers.
- Following the two-week hospital stay due to the severe burns, some doctors did believe that Victoria was being abused, and the police were notified. A female officer was assigned to follow up and visit Victoria’s home, but she failed to do so due to fears that she would catch scabies from household items or furniture. As well as police incompetence, there was no home check up from a health visitor, which was required due to the nature of Victoria’s hospital admission.
- After being discharged, Victoria returned with Kouao to live with Carl Manning in a different area. Due to this move, Victoria was assigned a newly qualified social worker named Lisa Arthurworrey, who still should have been working under the supervision of an experienced social worker, but was not. In August 1999, she made her first visit and noted that Victoria and the home both seemed well-presented. However, she failed to speak to Victoria directly. Satisfied with her findings, she left. By the time she visited again in October, Manning was forcing Victoria to sleep in a bin liner in the bath, and she was being forced to eat while her hands were bound. The fear of Manning caused Victoria to become uncontrollably incontinent, and in return she was subjected to additional physical abuse. Again, the vile mistreatment suffered by Victoria went undetected.
- Social worker Lisa Arthurworrey informed Kouao that she would be shortlisted for better housing if Victoria is placed at risk. In November, Marie-Thérèse Kouao contacted social services to claim that her boyfriend Carl Manning had been sexually abusing Victoria. It was explained to Kouao that Manning would be arrested and Victoria would need to be examined before she received the housing she wanted. After hearing this, Kouao withdrew her allegations, and no further action was taken. For the next 4 months, Manning and Kouao avoided all contact with social services and Victoria was continuously subjected to torturous abuse and starvation, including her toes being smashed with hammers. During that time, their evasiveness resulted in no intervention or action from authorities.
- In February 2000, Kouao began taking Victoria to church, claiming that her deteriorating condition had been caused by the devil and insisting on an exorcism. A member of the congregation asserted that Victoria should be taken to hospital, but nothing more was done. On 25th February, the council closed Victoria’s case after no successful contact was made, and at 3:30pm that same day an 8-year-old girl was rushed into hospital with 128 different injuries all over her body. Victoria Climbié was pronounced dead. When admitted to hospital for the final time, Victoria’s core temperature was so low that staff didn’t have instruments with the capacity to record it.
Despite the government’s declaration in 2000 that “lessons will be learned” as a result of Victoria’s tragically premature death, other children have continued to slip the net and die as a result of prolonged familial abuse and neglect: Baby P (1), Daniel Pelka (4), Arthur Labinjo-Hughes (6) and Sebastian Kalinowski (15) — to name just a few prominent cases in the media.
Convictions and Sentencing
During court proceedings, Victoria’s father broke down in tears after being shown pictures of his daughter with a tooth missing and horrific scald marks covering most of her face.
Marie Thérèse Kouao
Victoria’s great-aunt was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey in January 2001. Kouao, a French citizen, consistently denied any mistreatment and instead claimed that Victoria’s traumatic injuries were self-inflicted. Kouao was the first convicted murderer to give evidence at a public inquiry, during which she ranted that she was innocent and insisted she was the victim of a conspiracy, while also criticising Victoria’s devastated parents.
Carl Manning
Kouao’s partner was also found guilty of Victoria’s murder. In a chilling confession read out in court, he had told police: “You could beat her and she would not cry at all. She could take the beatings and pain like anything.” In video-recorded evidence played at the inquiry into Victoria’s death, he apologised for the part he played in the little girl’s suffering and also said that child protection agencies could not be blamed.
Both Marie Thérèse Kouao and Carl Manning were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Sources
- The Victoria Climbié Inquiry: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273183/5730.pdf
