Ayeeshia-Jayne Smith was repeatedly let down by Derbyshire County Council social services before her mother stamped her to death
A toddler murdered when her mother stamped on her chest until her heart ripped was failed by social workers who put the drug addict who killed her first, an official report revealed today.
Ayeeshia-Jayne Smith was repeatedly let down by Derbyshire County Council social services before her violent death at the hands of Kathryn Smith in 2014.
Smith was jailed for a minimum of 19 years last year and her boyfriend Matthew Rigby was jailed for three years and six months for his ‘failure to act’ to stop her.
A serious case review examining her death was released today and said social workers ‘missed danger signs’ about Ayeeshia’s safety – but the report also claims the murder could not have been predicted.
The emaciated toddler, who weighed just 20lbs when she died, was attacked with such force she suffered a fatal heart injury, three broken ribs and bit through her own tongue.
Derbyshire County Council knew of drug use, violence and child neglect at the home where the toddler lived but mother and daughter were kept together until she died in May 2014 because her needs ‘overshadowed’ Ayeeshia’s.
‘AJ’, as her loved ones called her, had been taken into foster care where she put on weight, started using words and her hair grew back.
But she was then given back to her mother because care professionals believed her parenting skills were ‘more than adequate’, the report said.
Kathryn Smith was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court for life with a minimum term of 19 years while her partner Matthew Rigby was jailed for three years and six months for his ‘failure to act
This is Ayeeshia-Jayne Smith with an injured face before her death – her father claims he warned social services she was in danger before her murder by her mother
Ayeeshia was killed a day after a multi-agency risk assessment meeting called due to ‘a growing sense of unease’ about her safety, today’s report said.
It also emerged that three weeks before the murder social workers filled out forms for her to be taken into care but the papers were never sent.
In a shocking case with echoes of the Baby P tragedy, the child’s biological father Ricky Booth twice reported injuries she had suffered to social workers but claimed they ‘weren’t interested’.
The serious case review, which identified those involved by initials, said all agencies concerned with the family had been ‘inclined to take what (Smith) said at face value’.
A summary of the report stated: ‘An attitude of professional curiosity requiring practitioners to examine the lived experience of (Ayeeshia-Jayne) was often missing by all agencies.
‘The needs of (Smith) overshadowed the needs of (Ayeeshia-Jayne) frequently.’
Smith’s social worker, Stephen Crean, 62, took early retirement while facing serious questions over his handling of the case, it emerged during her murder trial.
Derbyshire County Council workers also saw drug use, violence and child neglect at the home where the toddler lived but mother and daughter were kept together until she died in May 2014.
Her cannabis addict mother kept drugs bought with her benefits in Ayeeshia’s Tommee Tippee drinking cup, smoked the drug throughout her pregnancy and was high when she beat Ayeeshia, MailOnline revealed at the time.
The report into the youngster’s death noted a number of medical incidents and minor injuries involving the toddler between January and April 2014, the most significant being hair loss and a suspected convulsion.
Smith and her daughter moved to a rented flat in Burton from an address in Derbyshire in February 2014, after an eviction notice was served for damage to the property.
The serious case review’s executive summary said: ‘Domestic arguments between (Smith and Rigby) led to police involvement and a growing sense of unease by professionals about once again the risks to (Ayeeshia-Jayne and Smith) of domestic violence.
‘This led to a multi-agency risk assessment conference being held on 30th April 2014. The following day (Ayeeshia-Jayne) died.
‘It must be acknowledged that, whilst some risk elements were recognised, in the months leading up to the (Ayeeshia-Jayne’s) death, it would appear the violence between (Smith) and her then partner was escalating, yet being minimised by her.
‘Professionals made much of the positive relationship observed between (Smith) and her child and this appeared to lead, at times, to a prevailing sense of optimism and a lack of professional curiosity about the current partner, violent incidents, drug use and his care history and background.’
Catalogue: Ayeeshia’s biological father Ricky took pictures of his child’s injuries to her cheek, left, and chin, right, sustained while living with her cruel mother
A picture taken at Derby Hospital showing an injury to Ayeeshia’s finger in January 2014 – doctors missed a string of non accidental injuries, the court heard
Abuse: This is the Tommee Tippee cup belonging to Ayeeshia, used by her mother to store her cannabis (pictured), which she paid for using her benefits
Although the report’s authors said the killing could not have been predicted, they said care professionals ‘should have been more inquisitive’ about the impact of Smith’s new partner and her other relationships on the safety and health of Ayeeshia-Jayne.
Among nine recommendations made in the report was a call for fathers and other male partners to be adequately supported and assessed, even if they are not the primary carer.
Ayeeshia-Jayne’s birth father told the review he had not been listened to or consulted by health professionals, especially while voicing concerns about her safety.
Smith’s social worker, Stephen Crean, 61, took early retirement last year while facing serious questions over his handling of the case
Commenting on the report Jane Parfrement, the director of Children’s Services at Derbyshire County Council, said the authority accepted its findings in full.
Ms Parfrement said: ‘For those issues where practice could have been stronger, we apologise to the family, and have already apologised to the family.
‘I think in particular, having met with Ayeeshia-Jayne’s dad yesterday, I think we could have engaged him a lot better, worked with him differently.
‘I think the tone of our work with him was set quite early on, when there were difficulties in the relationships with social workers.’
The report said the decision to draw up a child protection plan at birth had been appropriate but professionals then became too focused on the needs of Smith as a potential victim of domestic abuse.
Experts said her injuries were so severe she resembled a high-speed car crash victim, and previous bruises, wounds and even a brain injury was missed by doctors who examined her before she died.
Social services had been supervising Ayeeshia and she was taken away from Smith for five months and placed with foster carers, during which time she gained weight and her health improved.
But she was given back to her mother seven months before her death following a ‘positive risk assessment’.
It was one of a series of missed opportunities by social services to save the little girl.
Social workers discussed taking Ayeeshia into care again three weeks before she died, then held another meeting just 24 hours before she was killed – but did not remove the child.
Smith, 23, wept uncontrollably in the dock in April 2016 after a jury found her guilty of murdering Ayeeshia as she cried ‘stop mummy, stop daddy’. Her ex-partner, Matthew Rigby, 22, was convicted of causing or allowing the child’s death, but cleared of murder.
Sentencing the mother at Birmingham Crown Court in April last year, Mrs Justice Andrews told her: ‘You are a devious, manipulative, selfish, young woman who would stop at nothing to get your own way.’
Kathryn Smith, 23, left outside court, was convicted of murdering her daughter on May 1, 2014, her boyfriend Matthew Rigby, 22, right, was found not guilty of baby Ayeeshia’s murder, but convicted of allowing the child’s death
Ayeeshia (pictured with an injured chin) collapsed at the flat in Britannia Drive, Burton-upon-Trent, after suffering a fatal heart laceration – a type of injury usually only found in crash victims
Derbyshire Council pledged to investigate after Ayeeshia’s father Ricky Booth, 21, said she had been ‘let down’ by the system – but the publication of its serious case review was delayed by more than a year until today.
Ayeeshia, who was known as AJ, died from a tear to the heart which triggered a fatal heart attack on May 1, 2014.
Paramedics had been called to Smith and Rigby’s maisonette, in Stretton, Burton-on-Trent, shortly after 4pm that day.
The couple were arrested when a post-mortem examination revealed her injuries.
Audio of Smith’s 999 call revealed how the killer claimed Ayeeshia had a seizure and when the operator asked if she is breathing she said: ‘No there’s nothing, she’s gone’.
In fact the mother had beaten her ribs shattered and she was missing tufts of hair when she died.
It also found she had suffered a number of previous injuries in the run up to her death, including bruises to her back and buttocks, head, neck, left eyelid and left leg, as well as a ‘life-threatening bleed to the brain’.
The prosecution said there was a ‘consistent pattern of non-accidental bruising’ which ‘must have happened when one or both were looking after Ayeeshia and about which both must have known’.
Smith and Rigby, both violent drug addicts, had denied having anything to do with the child’s death throughout their six-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
They initially tried to claim Ayeeshia had suffered a seizure and the child’s horrific injuries were caused when they attempted CPR.
But experts said this simply was not possible.
The couple then turned on each other in the dock, with each saying the other must have been responsible for the toddler’s death.
But a jury convicted Smith of murder after hearing Ayeeshia had been subjected to months of abuse before the final fatal attack. Smith was also convicted of child cruelty after the court heard she was more interested in buying cannabis than feeding her young daughter.
Ayeeshia had eaten just a yoghurt, a chocolate biscuit and a packet of Quavers on the day she died and was ‘very thin’, with her weight in the bottom 2 per cent for her age.
Home: Ayeeshia’s small bed photographed after her death with no mattress and toys piled next to it
Squallor: Smith and Rigby’s bed with a drug filled Tommee Tippee cup and an ashtray lying on the floor next to it
Horrifying: A post mortem examination revealed how the toddler had injuries all over her body – and some were up to four months old
Her godmother Esta Barrett, 25, recalled visiting Ayeeshia three months before her death.
She told MailOnline: ‘I had seen AJ picking food out of the rubbish bin and I told Kat who just told her off. But why would any child take food from the bin if they weren’t hungry?’
Ayeeshia with her father Ricky, who accused social workers of ignoring his warnings and claimed they ‘signed her death warrant’ when she was returned to her mother
Smith, who was adopted, fell pregnant in November 2011 when she was 18 but separated from Mr Booth before Ayeeshia was born.
Ayeeshia was taken into care in June 2013 amid concerns about Smith’s relationship with another violent man.
The court heard that during this time in care, the little girl thrived and started to put on weight and saying a few words.
Social worker Stephen Crean told the court the decision to give Ayeeshia back to her mother was based on a ‘positive risk assessment’ and the fact she had attended five out of 12 sessions of a domestic abuse workshop and ‘now understood what domestic abuse was’.
Ayeeshia was returned to Smith in October 2013, by which time she was in a relationship with Rigby, who had previous convictions for assault.
The court heard the couple were ‘two peas from the same pod’ who had a volatile relationship but thrived on the turbulence and their love of cannabis.
In the months leading up to Ayeeshia’s death, Rigby was accused of smashing up their flat and setting fire to the child’s cot.
On the day of Ayeeshia’s death, Smith was said to be ‘annoyed’ because her father had borrowed £40 from her and not paid her back.
Neighbour Tracey Roberts said she heard screaming and shouting coming from the couple’s flat and a child’s voice saying ‘stop mummy, stop daddy’ at around 3.10pm.
An ambulance was not called until after 4pm and by the time it arrived Ayeeshia was ‘incredibly pale’. Smith initially told police her daughter was covered in bruises because she had fallen off her potty.
The tragic case echoes that of Baby P, Peter Connolly, who was just 17 months old when he died after suffering more than 50 injuries – despite being on Haringey Council’s at-risk register.
How Ayeeshia-Jayne’s case echoes some of Britain’s most horrifying child cruelty cases
Daniel Pelka
Daniel, four, died in March 2012 after a sustained period of ‘appalling cruelty’ during which his mother Magdalena Luczak, 27, and stepfather Mariusz Krezolek, 34, of Coventry, starved him, force-fed him salt, tortured him and locked him in a tiny room.
At the time he died he had been tortured for six months and weighed just 1st 9lb, the same as an 18-month-old child.
A review following his death also found that chances to save Daniel, who had gained the attention of social services and police – who visted the home 26 times, had been missed, but did not blame any individual agency.
Coventry City Council has come under heavy scrutiny ever since the murder, which shocked the nation after it emerged social workers, police and teachers had all failed to save him.
Peter Connelly
Widely known as Baby P, 17-month-old Peter Connelly, died in August 2007, after suffering more than 50 injuries in just eight months, during which he was repeatedly seen by NHS staff and Haringey Children’s Services – the same local authority that failed Victoria Climbie.
Prior to his death, Peter had been admitted to hospital with injuries, and on one occasion, just days before his death, injuries to Baby Peter’s face and hands were missed by a social worker after the child was deliberately smeared with chocolate to hide them.
Peter’s mother Tracey Connelly, her boyfriend Steven Barker, and Barker’s brother Jason Owen were all convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child, the mother having pleaded guilty to the charge.
The former director of Haringey children’s services, Sharon Shoesmith, was eventually fired on the orders of the then Children’s Secretary Ed Balls.
Victoria Climbie
Abuse victim Victoria, eight, who lived in Haringey, north London, died in February 2000 after being beaten, starved and tortured by her great-aunt Marie Therese Kouao and Kouao’s lover Carl Manning, were jailed for life for murder.
Victoria was burned with cigarettes, often tied up and hit with bike chains, hammers and wires, and the abuse had been noted by the police, the social services department of four local authorities, including Haringey council, the NHS, and charity the NSPCC, as well as local churches. However, during the trial following her death a judge described the failure by all to properly investigate the case as ‘blinding incompetence’.
A public inquiry, headed by Lord Laming, also found there were numerous instances where Victoria could have been saved and a subsequent report made numerous recommendations related to child protection in England.