Birmingham child services fail Kyhra

A senior judge yesterday condemned social services as the mum of tragic Khyra Ishaq was finally convicted of starving the child to death.

Mrs Justice Eleanor King said the seven-year-old would probably be alive today if her case had been better monitored by officers.

Khyra’s abuse by Angela Gordon and partner Junaid Abuhamza was so shocking she weighed just two stone when her body was found.

But her case slipped through the net and her file was closed by the council a month before her death.

Mrs Justice King, whose comments were made in care proceedings last year but released for the first time yesterday, blasted: “It is beyond belief that in 2008, in a bustling, energetic and modern city, a child was withdrawn from school and kept in squalid conditions for five months before finally dying of starvation. Had there been an adequate initial assessment and proper adherence by the educational welfare services to its guidance, she would not have died.” Yesterday Gordon, 35, was convicted of manslaughter after nearly two years of court cases when the judge ordered the jury to find her not guilty of murder.

She also admitted cruelty of five other children in her care. Schizophrenic Abuhamza, 32, was found guilty of manslaughter earlier. He had already admitted cruelty to the other children at the home in Handsworth, Birmingham.

The Muslim convert beat and starved Khyra so he could drive out an “evil spirit”.

In the week before she died two years ago, the girl could barely move but he lashed her three times with a cane as he thought she was possessed, Birmingham crown court heard. Khyra, whose body had 60 scars, scabs and bruises, died from bronchial pneumonia and septicaemia because she was so weak due to lack of nutrition.

The other children were also malnourished – despite the kitchen cupboards and fridge packed with food.

Khyra’s real dad Abu Ishaq Zaire, 38 – who split from Gordon five years ago – blamed Birmingham City Council social services for her death. He had warned welfare officers she was at risk. He blasted: “I truly believe that if they had done their job properly she’d be alive today.

“In the end, they got fed up with going to the house and getting no answer or being made to stand on the doorstep and being refused entry. They just gave up.”

The boss of Birmingham children’s services yesterday apologised for the appalling failings. Tony Howell said: “We are sorry we could not save her. It is difficult to comprehend in this day and age a child can starve to death without anybody appearing to notice.”

Rejecting calls for him to quit, he added: “Improvements have been made. The most important thing I can do is make sure those improvements happen so there would be no purpose served in resigning.”

Gordon and Abuhamza were originally charged with murder.

A trial last summer collapsed after jurors fell ill. Their retrial began last month. They will be sentenced next week.

Taken from Mirror.co.uk