NONE of the health or social workers looking after a mother who killed her five-year-old daughter has been disciplined, the M.E.N. can reveal.
An independent inquiry published seven years after Chloe Fahey's death has criticised all the agencies involved in her care. Chloe was stabbed 52 times by her mother Aisling Murray.
The report singles out her social worker who had been qualified for just three months when she was allocated Murray's case.
It also points the finger at her psychiatrist, and Trafford community mental health team for particular failings.
But the report concludes that the tragedy could not have been predicted or prevented.
Chloe's father David Fahey and extended family had repeatedly told the authorities of their concerns about Murray's deteriorating health – even begging police to intervene hours before she died.
Mr Fahey issued a statement thanking the panel who led the inquiry for their thorough investigation and said: “I welcome the report but regret is has taken so long to be published.”
Sympathy
Frances Patterson QC, a community care law expert who led the investigation, said: “One is left with an over-riding feeling of sympathy for Child A's [Chloe's] family. Their intuition was not listened to. Yet they knew [Murray] best.
“As a result they are bound to feel let down by a system that failed to act in relation to a situation that they rightly thought was bound to end in danger to Child A [Chloe].”
The report also said: “There was nothing to give rise to any suspicion that Ms B [Murray] would harm her daughter but the events leading up to the horrific incident . . . revealed various practices on the part of the agencies involved with Ms B that were sadly lacking.
“As a consequence the family was neglected.”
The social worker put in charge of Murray's care in June 1998 had been qualified for just three months.
She has been criticised for adopting 'too narrow' an approach towards Murray's care and failed to correct her first assessment.
The inquiry also found the she had too many cases, was inadequately supervised and was inexperienced.
The report also criticises the performance of the psychiatrist at the Moorside unit, in Trafford - who discharged Murray a month before the killing saying she was not 'a risk' - as 'lacking.'
Weakness
Regarding the community mental health team who cared for Murray, the inquiry concluded: “It was a service which at the time had endemic weakness and serious failing.”
Their assessment of Murray on the day before Chloe's death has been described as 'seriously flawed'
Trafford council and Greater Manchester West Mental Health Trust refused the M.E.N.'s requests for interviews but issued a joint statement defending their decisions not to discipline staff.
A spokeswoman said: “There was an immediate management review following the death of Child A [Chloe] and a subsequent independent child protection review in 2003.
“There was nothing to indicate a requirement to take disciplinary action as a result of these reviews.
”The inquiry has confirmed that no individual members of staff were judged responsible and the tragedy could not have been foreseen and has no plans to refer, to professional bodies.”
She added there had been £4m investment in local mental health care and additional training for social workers in Trafford since 2003.
The report found police actions were 'confused' but mostly 'appropriate'.
It describes how Chloe's grandmother – her father's mother – went to Stretford police station on the night the little girl died to plead for them to intervene after realising Murray was alone with her daughter.
Intuition
The report said: ”With remarkable intuition and prescience they pleaded with the police that they do something as Child A [Chloe] was alone with her mother and needed help.”
The investigation also praised the teacher and headteacher of Chloe's school Victoria Park Infants who made repeated calls to alert social services of her concerns about Murray.
Murray had suffered mental health problems from 1999 but at that time was considered a good mother and not to be a risk to Chloe.
She had been treated in hospital three times after that – once for nearly a year.
She insisted on pleading guilty to murder but this was replaced by manslaughter with diminished responsibility by the court of appeal 18 months ago.
Bolton Salford and Trafford mental health trust, now known as Greater Manchester West Mental Health Trust, and Trafford Council say they have already implemented all the report’s recommendations.
Chloe: No one to be disciplined
January 14, 2010
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Play Slideshow
Chloe Fahey with her mother Aisling Murray
Showing comments 1 to 8 and replies | View All
Mad Welsh Scotsman, Cadishead (14/01/2010 at 12:42)
But the mother of the child as well as her mother and family etc all predicted there could one day be something serious, serious enough for them to demand help beforehand, and I don't just mean hours before, I mean months or years. Why am I not surprised that no-one in authority is to be brought to account for their failing in their duty of care to this poor girl.
thoughtful, East of Manchester (14/01/2010 at 12:58)
Too many people involved, too little communication between them (probably because of a misplaced fear of the data protection act), too little action, and too little responsibilty.
Bertie McGrew , Northern Countryside (14/01/2010 at 13:06)
Any mother's natural instinct is to nuture and protect their offspring, not to kill. Anything that interferred with that natural instinct should have been noticed by more than just 1 social worker with 3 months experience.
There are two tragedies here, obviously the tragic death of Chloe but also the state of mind of Aisling
My heart goes out to Chloe's father and his family and the parents of Aisling
timkendall, Japan (14/01/2010 at 13:40)
sugar n spice, manchester (14/01/2010 at 17:14)
Donald, manchester (14/01/2010 at 20:00)
Milo, Didsbury (14/01/2010 at 20:28)
I to think that I am hearing the same old thing again here!! Yet another person slagging off a social worker!! It is not the social worker who is to blame but the systems and pressures that they have to work under. As the report stated, the social worker had to many cases. This is the case for every social worker out there. they are unable to spend the time that is really needed to support their clients as the clients deserve. I to agree that their wages are disgusting. They do not get paid nearly enough for the abuse and dangers that they often have to face on a daily basis.It is they who have to explain to their clients that they will have to start paying for services that were previously free to those who need them. All because the Local Authority or Mental Health Trust has overspent due to bad management. We don't have to look very far for this.
Yes I agree this is yet another tragedy that should never have happened and my heart goes out to the family and why did it take four years to hear the answers to the cause of this tragedy?
ebble, manchester (14/01/2010 at 22:36)
Let's not forget that most social workers are employed to keep unemployment down. Nobody really expects them to be able to cope with or solve any of the problems they encounter. And they don't!