15/01/2009

Couple To Be Sentenced Over Baby Death

The parents of a baby boy who died in hospital from a head injury, are to be sentenced later today.

Alfie Goddard was just three months old when he died at Sheffield Children's Hospital in May 2008, after suffering a fatal head injury two days earlier.

The baby's father, Craig Goddard, 24, of Marton Road, Toll Bar, has pleaded guilty to murder, while his mother Lindsay Harris, 19, has admitted perverting the course of justice.

A post mortem examination revealed the 12-week-old boy's death was caused by a head injury.

The pair will be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court.

The case is just one of seven in the Doncaster Council area of children who have died from neglect or abuse since 2004.

A full scale review of Doncaster's children's services has now been announced by Children's Secretary Ed Balls. Five of the serious case reviews commissioned into each death have involved children under the age of 16 months.

The findings of three of the reviews have already been made public and they found there were a series of missed opportunities for social workers to intervene before the deaths.

An Ofsted inspection last month rated the department "inadequate". It also found social workers were working "against the backdrop of unmanageable workloads" that led to a "chaotic and dangerous situation" within the child protection team.

(JM/BMcC)

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