Insufficient police training to identify child abuse highlighted in investigation into boy’s death

However, it concluded that the force did not sufficiently train frontline officers to identify child abuse.

Alfie Steele died at his home in Droitwich in February 2021 after repeatedly being abused, including being put in a cold bath.

His mother, Carla Scott, was found guilty of manslaughter and her partner, Dirk Howell, was convicted of murder in June 2023.

The investigation showed the pair had a “significant amount of contact” with West Mercia Police in the years before Alfie died.

After the court case concluded, the force made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in relation to that prior contact.

During the course of its investigation, the IOPC examined 20 separate incidents where the force had interactions with Alfie, his mother or her partner, between March 2018 and February 2021, which were repeatedly about welfare concerns reported by worried neighbours and eyewitnesses.

Although every call made to West Mercia Police was responded to, a different police officer or police community support officer (PCSO) attended on each occasion and Alfie was never spoken to by any officer on his own.

“The climate of fear which existed within the family home often led to Alfie being in bed allegedly asleep during many of the times police were called,” the IOPC said. “Alfie’s mother also often answered any questions on his behalf, which meant his voice was never heard by police.”

The IOPC identified learning in relation to putting warning markers on West Mercia Police command and control logs highlighting that a child at a particular address is the subject of a Child Protection Plan.

It also recommended that force policies regarding referrals to children’s services are reviewed to ensure they are fit for purpose.

West Mercia Police  accepted and implemented these areas of learning,” the IOPC said.

IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “First and foremost, my thoughts and sympathies remain with Alfie’s family and everyone affected by his tragic and shocking death.

“Our investigation has been painstakingly thorough, examining hundreds of documents, spanning the years that West Mercia Police had contact with Alfie, his mother and her partner.

“It is important to note that in most of the incidents, officers did take some positive action and children’s services were appropriately made aware of every single police attendance. Many other concerns, not shared with the police, were dealt with at local authority level.

“We found no indication of misconduct by any individual officer, but we recommended that eight police constables and two PCSOs undertake reflective practice to review how they handled interactions concerning Alfie.

“In our view, when called to the home, officers should have found a way to speak to Alfie without other adults being present, in line with best practice. On some occasions officers lacked professional curiosity and could have undertaken further enquiries.”

He added: “There was a culture of fear within the household which, when coupled with lockdown, severely reduced Alfie’s world. There were few opportunities for Alfie to feel safe enough to make a disclosure to professionals about what was happening within the family home.

“Carla Scott contributed greatly by failing to safeguard him and failing to put his safety and wellbeing before her loyalty to her partner.

“In that cruel environment, Alfie appears to have had to adopt extreme compliance, evidenced by him being in bed allegedly asleep on many of the occasions the police were called, sometimes within a short time of a reported incident.

“It is reassuring that West Mercia Police have committed to ensuring that everyone who works in the force knows Alfie’s story. We have been advised that since we began our investigation, the force has trained hundreds more officers in relation to ensuring that children do have a voice regarding any report about the welfare of a child.”

Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Jones said: “The loss Alfie’s family has experienced is immeasurable and we continue to extend our deepest condolences to those who knew him and will forever miss him.

“Alfie died after he was inflicted with indescribable abuse at the hands of his mother and her partner and both are now serving considerable prison sentences for his death.

“The death of a child in such horrific circumstances is abhorrent and in the immediate aftermath of Alfie’s death we carried out a review. This led to significant changes and training put in place for our frontline officers and staff to ensure the signs of child abuse and vulnerability are fully understood.

“To ensure an independent assessment and that appropriate scrutiny was applied, in June 2023, we referred our contact with the family prior to Alfie’s death to the IOPC.

“It is essential we do everything within our powers to keep children safe, and that our communities have faith that we will do everything to keep children safe. There is no doubt protecting children is one of the most important things we do.

“Since then, we have extended this training to raise awareness to all officers and staff the importance to captured the voice of the child – using professional curiosity to speak and listen to children and understand their fears and concerns. Or what they don’t say.

“It has been our mission to share Alfie’s life with our entire workforce to highlight the importance of this and how vital it is we get it right. We must put safeguards in place to make sure no child ever suffers like that again.

“It is with the greatest sadness we will never be able to undo the dreadful abuse Alfie suffered and our thoughts remain with his family, friends and loved ones.”

During the IOPC investigation which ended in February this year, it reviewed a wealth of documentation detailing all 20 police contacts, including statements from officers, social workers and neighbours, crime and investigation reports, police logs, children’s services’ records, 999 calls, body-worn video and ring doorbell footage. A range of child protection policies and procedures were considered along with relevant legislation.

Examples of the incidents the IOPC scrutinised include:

On an evening in May 2020, West Mercia Police was contacted by concerned neighbours stating that a child they believed to be Alfie was standing “like a statue” in the garden with a man shouting at him. The neighbour added that the child had been outside for approximately ten minutes and the shouting had continued after the child had gone back inside the house.

Attending officers checked with social workers and were informed that the occupants were known to social services and that Howell posed a risk to Alfie and should not be there, although there was no order enforcing this. Body-worn video we examined showed Alfie’s mother repeatedly stating that her partner was not there, however, the officer remained persistent and eventually Howell left the property.

The officer checked on Alfie by asking him if he was “all right”. Alfie nodded but did not speak and he was not asked about the garden incident. There was no evidence that the caller was spoken to again to obtain further information. Howell was not asked for his account, despite being seen and briefly spoken to by the officer when he left the address.

An evening in August 2020, a neighbour rang West Mercia Police about concerns for Alfie’s safety, stating that it seemed like he was being “hurt”, and a man could be heard shouting and swearing, with someone “thrashing around the bath…maybe he’s being hit and held under the water or something”.

The call was graded ‘immediate’ and a few minutes later the police log was updated to show that Alfie was subject to a care plan.

Two officers went to Alfie’s home just before 9pm. One of the officers spoke to Alfie’s mother who said he was “playing up in the bath, so he was told off”.

Both officers went upstairs to check on Alfie, who appeared to be asleep in his bedroom. They concluded that he was ‘safe and well’ although acknowledged he may still be the subject of abuse. There was no record of Alfie being spoken to in order to get his account of the noises heard.

One of the officers said that although they were aware Mr Howell was home, they did not see him. The officers were informed Howell was not meant to have contact with Alfie due to the concerns social services had. However, there were no police powers to enforce his removal from the address, so they were unable to take any action. Police contacted children’s services the following day to inform them of their attendance. This incident occurred six months prior to Alfie’s murder. A police officer completed a risk assessment and recorded that random visits by the safeguarding team would be beneficial. There is no evidence any such visits took place.