Could murdered Wolverhampton baby Joshua Millinson have been saved?
A serious case review into the death of murdered baby Joshua Millinson has criticised social services and other agencies that had contact with his killer father.
Joshua died at the hands of his father, Daniel Sanzone, who vigorously shook his 13-day-old son causing him catastrophic brain injuries.
On at least one other occasion 23-year-old Sanzone assaulted the infant – who had suffered six rib and six leg fractures.
The baby was taken to hospital from his home in Whitburn Close, Wolverhampton, on October 24 last year but died in hospital four weeks later.
Today Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB) published its serious case review into Joshua's death, which found:
Sanzone was not identified as Joshuas father by agencies until after the murder.
Social services carried out a weak pre-birth assessment after concerns were raised by a midwife, which concluded no further action was required social services then had no further involvement in the case.
The Probation Service, which was in contact with Sanzone because of a previous conviction, failed to explore possible safeguarding concerns for his then unborn child, despite knowing he had a history of sexual allegations against children.
There were shortcomings in the arrangements for safeguarding children at New Cross Hospitals A&E department, which Joshua attended twice before he was murdered.
The report states that Joshua's mother, Zoe Howell, 19, misled agencies about the identity of Joshua's father on several occasions.
And had he been identified 'it is likely to have altered the perception of risk' and may have led to different steps being taken.
The safeguarding board also criticises the level of communication between the different agencies, stating no steps were taken to coordinate their work after the local authority withdrew.
Also read: How tragic Wolverhampton newborn was let down
A total of 12 recommendations have been made including an audit of the quality and effectiveness of Wolverhampton council's child and family assessments, including pre-birth assessments.
The board also said the probation service should ensure risk assessments are updated when there is a change in the circumstances of a supervised offender that may indicate a heightened possible risk to vulnerable children or adults.
Alan Coe, chair of WSCB, said: "The report makes it clear that there was no evidence that the injuries which caused the little boy's death could have been anticipated. However, it does identify a number of ways in which, in similar circumstances, more opportunities might be taken that could enable professionals to better coordinate and share information and to identify potential risks."
Responding to the report's findings, the council's Conservative group leader, Wendy Thompson, said she was concerned communication between agencies had not improved following previous deaths.
She added: "What is worrying is the council has been criticised before in previous cases some years ago and systems were supposed to have improved in that regard – particularly in relation to communication between the different organisations that would be involved with a vulnerable child.
"That's the most concerning thing as we thought that those recommendations from that case had been followed."
Sanzone was convicted of Joshua's murder in November and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years. Miss Howell was cleared of any wrongdoing by the same jury.
