Daniel Pelka Report: 'No One Suspected Abuse'

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

Chance after chance was missed to intervene in the case of a four-year-old boy who was beaten to death by his mother and stepfather.

A serious case review into the death of Daniel Pelka found repeated failures by agencies set up to safeguard children's welfare.

But it concluded that nobody could have predicted his death at the hands of an abusive mother and stepfather last year.

The report's author, Ron Lock, said: "No one professional, with what they knew of Daniel's circumstances, suspected or could have predicted that he would be killed.

"This was a complex and tragic case.

"Daniel's mother seemed plausible in her concerns about him, and no concerns were expressed by neighbours or the wider community.

"Strong concerns nevertheless emerged about Daniel's circumstances and his care, although at no point were practitioners who had contact with him prepared to think the unthinkable and consider that he might be suffering abuse.

"But if professionals had used more enquiring minds, and been more focused in their intentions to address concerns, it's likely that Daniel would have been better protected from the people who killed him."

Magdelena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek were both jailed for life

Daniel was brought up in a chaotic family where violence and heavy drinking were the norm. He was known to police, social services, teachers and doctors.

But the report found that not one professional asked him what was going on at home.

Mr Lock said: "He didn't speak good English. His self-esteem was so low, he was a very isolated little boy so people found it hard to engage him.

"His mother often spoke on his behalf, as did his sibling, so rather than ask Daniel others were asked what he was thinking and to ask his mum and sibling was not going to give the correct answers."

Responding to the report, Children's Minister Edward Timpson said social workers had to allowed to move away from a "tick box culture where there is too much red tape".

They must "move to a child centred system where social workers ... are out there with children talking to them".

Daniel was terrorised at his home in Coventry by his mother Magdelena Luczak and his stepfather Mariusz Krezolek.

He was starved, beaten and force-fed salt. At school he rooted through bins for food and once turned up with two black eyes. He later died from a serious head injury on March 3, 2012.

The four-year-old had 40 injuries on his body when he died

The review found the couple misled authorities by lying about his injuries and pretending he had an eating disorder, rendering Daniel "invisible" to health professionals.

But it also highlighted how stretched children's services were in the city.

It described overworked staff who were "naive", who were not "inquisitive" and assumed others were "intervening".

It noted missed opportunities to help Daniel, including 27 reports of domestic violence to police.

In January 2011 he went to hospital with a broken arm - a spiral fracture suggested twisting -  but professionals were too ready to accept it was accidental.

In September, when Daniel started school, teachers noticed a pattern of injuries which they failed to record or act on.

In February 2012 he saw a community paediatrician - his weight loss was not recognised and child abuse was not even considered.

A few weeks later the four-year-old was dead. He had 40 injuries and a doctor said he looked like a concentration camp victim.

Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council, said: "Professionals didn't have the whole picture. Daniel's voice wasn't heard at all.

"Arguably they are basic errors, but we have to put this against a backdrop of social care workers, police, health colleagues working every day making what some would argue are impossible judgement calls on child protection, so I think our key now is how do we learn from those issues."

The review, by the Coventry Safeguarding Children Board, has published 15 recommendations aimed at preventing such a failure happening again.

Luczak and Krezolek, both originally from Poland, were convicted of Daniel's murder in a trial earlier this year and are now both serving minimum 30-year terms in prison.

Ray Jones, professor of social work at Kingston University, told Sky News that up to 170 serious case review reports were prepared every year.

He said: "We're giving more time to the bureaucracy and procedures than giving time to actually spending the hours finding what is happening in a family. We've got the priorities wrong."

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) also questioned the effectiveness of serious case reviews.

Chief Executive Bridget Robb said that the findings are not properly shared with child protection social workers.

Research the BASW carried out showed that one quarter of its members never get the chance to read serious case review reports.

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Austria Siege: Four Shot Dead By Gunman

Special forces are surrounding an gunman who is barricaded inside a farmhouse after shooting dead three policemen and a medic.

The farmhouse has been sealed off by armoured vehicles

The suspect, said to be 55-years-old, has opened fire as dozens of elite armed Cobra officers surround the building.

The man first shot two police officers as they tried to arrest him in woodland near the Lower Austrian town of Anaberg, around 60 miles west of Vienna, late on Monday.

Security forces are taking no chances

The then killed a medic who was treating a wounded officer at the scene, before taking an officer hostage and fleeing in a stolen police car to his home at Kollapriel, near Melk, about 70km (40 miles) away.

One report says the man has hand grenades

That officer was later found dead in the car, according to Austrian media reports.

A police spokesman said: "The gunman keeps shooting at the Cobra forces ... The Cobra forces are working very slowly and very carefully."

Officers have come under fire from the man

At a roadblock he reportedly then shot a second police officer, and took another prisoner before stealing a police car, and driving about 40 miles to his farm at Kollapriel, near the city of Melk.

The Austria Press Agency says that the gunman and police had exchanged fire several times during the standoff. One report said he had hand grenades.

The gunman is said to be known to police as a poacher, often leaving the heads of dead animals on roads.

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Syrian Helicopter 'Shot Down' By Turkish Forces

Syria: US Warns Syria 'Threat Of Force Is Real'

Updated: 6:04pm UK, Sunday 15 September 2013

US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued a warning to Syria, saying "the threat of force is real" if it does not destroy its chemical weapons.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, he said the focus must now be on ending the violence and humanitarian crisis in Syria.

But he again warned that US military strikes were a possibility if President Bashar al Assad does not comply with a newly-brokered US and Russian deal to strip him of his chemical stockpiles.

"The threat of force remains, the threat is real," he said. "We cannot have hollow words in the conduct of international affairs."

Under the deal, Syria has seven days to give the UN details on the amount and locations of its chemical arsenal.

Mr Netanyahu said diplomacy could only work if it was coupled with the threat of force, and Syria needed to be stripped of its chemical weapons to "make our entire region a lot safer".

"The world needs to ensure that radical regimes don't have weapons of mass destruction because as we have learned in Syria, if rogue regimes have weapons of mass destruction they will use them," he said.

"The determination the international community shows regarding Syria will have a direct impact on the Syrian regime's patron Iran. Iran must understand the consequences of its continued defiance of the international community by its pursuit toward nuclear weapons."

The Syrian government has welcomed the agreement on its chemical weapons disarmament as "a victory" for Damascus.

"On one hand, it helps the Syrians emerge from the crisis and on the other it has allowed for averting war against Syria," Syrian minister of state for national reconciliation Ali Haidar said in an interview with Russian news agency Ria Novosti. "It's a victory for Syria that was achieved thanks to our Russian friends."

Mr Haidar gave Syria's first reaction to the disarmament plan as warplanes and artillery bombarded rebel-held areas of Damascus. He said the deal would prepare the ground for peace talks between President Assad's forces and the rebels.

But opposition leaders have called the international focus on poison gas a sideshow, and dismissed talk the plan might herald peace talks. They said Mr Assad had stepped up an offensive with ordinary weaponry now the threat of US air strikes had receded.

Mr Kerry is due to hold talks on the Syria crisis with British Foreign Secretary William Hague, French President Francois Hollande and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday.

During the meeting, France is expected to push for its demand that Mr Assad be hauled before the International Criminal Court and tried for war crimes in a conflict that has killed more than 110,000 people since March 2011.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has been defending criticism of his handling of the crisis - amid claims he was outplayed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an ABC News interview, aired on Sunday, Mr Obama's answers were probably unlikely to have calmed his critics, said Sky's US Correspondent Greg Milam.

"I'm less concerned about style points. I'm much more concerned with getting the policy right," said Mr Obama.

Milam said: "There is no mistaking the irritation felt in the Oval Office about Vladimir Putin. Whatever they say about working together, we can probably read more into Obama's dig that 'he doesn't share our values'."

In reference to next weekend's UN deadline, when Mr Assad is due to deliver details of his deadly arsenal, Milam added: "The feeling is that Washington must have been secured some guarantee from Moscow, or even Damascus, that the Assad regime will not miss that deadline.

"If not, having escaped from the corner he'd painted himself into with his red line, he will be right back there this time next week."

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Duggan Inquest Told Of Police Officer's Fears

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

The police officer who shot Mark Duggan believed his target was aiming a gun back at him, an inquest has heard.

It has been two years since Mr Duggan was shot dead by police officers on Ferry Lane in Tottenham, north London, in a killing that sparked the London riots.

The 29-year-old was travelling in a minicab when it was stopped by team of Metropolitan Police officers investigating gang activities involving firearms and nightclubs.

Mark Duggan's death in Tottenham sparked riots in August 2011

Counsel to the inquest, Ashley Underwood QC, told the jury that the police believe Mr Duggan had travelled to Leyton in east London to pick up a gun.

As he was returning to Tottenham that evening three police vehicles performed a "hard stop" of the minicab.

Mr Underwood explained to the inquest jury that: "The idea of a hard stop is to shock people into submission.

"The whole purpose of police officers coming in hard and fast, stopping the car is to shock and awe people into not doing things."

Mr Duggan got out of the minicab and an armed officer known as V53 then shot him twice.

The first shot hit Mr Duggan in the arm, the second fatal wound punctured his aorta.

One bullet ended up lodged in a police radio, the second was recovered from the minicab.

An image of his blood-stained jacket was shown in court, at the same time there were gasps from the public gallery.

Mr Underwood revealed that the officer V53 believed that Mr Duggan had been holding a gun wrapped in a sock in his right hand at the time of the shooting and was aiming it at the officer.

He explained how police officers expected to find the gun beneath Mr Duggan but it was actually found 10-20ft away.

Mr Underwood said the handgun had been modified at some point but added: "It could fire, this gun was entirely capable of lethal force."

The shooting sparked a peaceful protest in Tottenham that escalated into rioting and looting across London and quickly spread to cities around England in August 2011.

Many different theories about the shooting have been put forward over the last two years as Mr Duggan's family have waited for answers. 

His brother has said how they feel they've been "fobbed off" in their pursuit of the facts. 

Many of Mr Duggan's family members and loved ones were in court for the second day of the inquest which is due to last between eight and 10 weeks. 

His Honour Judge Keith Cutler, the judge overseeing the inquest, has told the jury they are "on a quest to find the truth".

The jurors will be taken to Tottenham later this week to help them understand the scene of the shooting. 

The inquest has been adjourned for the day.

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Grand Theft Auto V: Stab Victim's Game Stolen

A man who bought one of the first copies of Grand Theft Auto V has been attacked and robbed of the game as he made his way home.

The 23-year-old was hit with a brick and stabbed shortly after leaving an Asda supermarket in Colindale, north London, where the game went on sale at midnight.

He also had his watch and mobile phone stolen and is now recovering in hospital, where his condition is said to be stable.

A police spokesman said it was not clear whether the man was deliberately targeted for the game.

The man bought the game from an Asda store moments after it went on sale

GTA V is one of the most eagerly anticipated games ever and is expected to smash sales records.

It could shift as many as 25 million copies in its first year, generating £1bn for developer Rockstar.

The game, in which players take on the role of a criminal in a fictional city, is thought to be the most expensive ever made.

It is estimated to have cost £170m - more than most Hollywood blockbusters, including the likes of 3D film Avatar.

The game is expected to sell up to 25 million copies in the next year

Video games website IGN.com described GTA V as a "masterpiece" and predicted an outbreak of "GTA flu".

A poll of almost 11,000 of its readers found nearly half had booked the game's launch date off as holiday.

Although GTA V officially went on sale at midnight, some gamers claimed to have received their pre-ordered copies from Amazon up to four days early.

The online retailer launched an investigation, saying it had "established processes in place to deliver new titles to customers on their release date".

The Grand Theft Auto franchise has sold around 135 million copies worldwide since its 1997 debut.

The previous game in the series, GTA IV, is believed to have sold 25 million copies since its release five years ago.

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Firefighters To Strike Next Week Over Pensions

Firefighters will strike for four hours next week in a row over pensions.

Almost 80% of the Fire Brigades Union's (FBU) members voted in favour of industrial action in a ballot that ended earlier this month.

Union officials had left the strike to the last possible moment to allow for the possibility of a negotiated settlement.

It is now due to happen between noon and 4pm next Wednesday, in what FBU chief Matt Wrack called a "warning shot to Government".

"Firefighters could not be more serious about protecting public safety and ensuring fair pensions," he said.

"Governments in Westminster and Cardiff have simply refused to see sense on these issues."

The FBU claims thousands of firefighters could be sacked without proper access to a proper pension simply because they are getting older.

A recent Government review found more than half of current firefighters aged 50-54 and two thirds of those over 55 can no longer meet the necessary fitness standards.

Ministers have previously suggested they could be moved to other roles but the FBU says there are only a handful of opportunities, meaning mass sackings are inevitable.

Firefighters also already pay some of the highest pension contributions in the UK, with most contributing 13% of their salary every year with further increases due

Firefighters already pay some of the highest pension contributions in the UK public or private sector and have seen increases for two consecutive years, the union said.

The majority of firefighters already pay almost 13% of their salary in contributions with further increases due next year.

Fire Minister Brandon Lewis called the decision to strike "entirely unnecessary and avoidable", and said that all fire authorities have "contingency plans".

"After two years of discussions, and with improved terms, the pension on offer to firefighters is one of the most generous public service pensions available," he said.

"A firefighter who earns £29,000, and retires after a full career aged 60, will get a £19,000 a year pension, rising to £26,000 with the state pension.

"To get the same pension from a private scheme firefighters would have to contribute twice as much."

Firefighters in Scotland will not join in because union officials are still discussing the Scottish Government's most recent proposals.

But as a settlement in Scotland has not yet been found, the union's strike ballot could still result in industrial action there too.

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Hillsborough: Second Police Force Investigated

Hillsborough: Many Questions Remain

Updated: 4:49pm UK, Tuesday 17 September 2013

By Nick Martin, News Correspondent

The police watchdog says it has uncovered "differences" between early statements given by fans at Hillsborough and later accounts.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) now wants to hear from as many as possible of the 50,000 fans in the stadium that day so that a clearer picture of what happened can be drawn.

The force responsible for taking those statements was West Midlands Police - their methods, practices and procedures adopted back then then are now under scrutiny.

Although careful not to prejudge, the IPCC clearly has either hard evidence or strong suspicions - or both - to suggest that West Midlands Police didn't do their job properly when dealing with those crucial eyewitness accounts.

But the scale of the task ahead of the IPCC is potentially enormous and pressure to avoid a long, drawn out investigation equally so.

The families of the 96 people who died at Hillsborough want answers. They also want any wrongdoing to be punished.

They fear that appealing for thousands of people to come forward can only mean one thing - another long inquiry.

The deputy chair of the IPCC, Deborah Glass, told me that they've had "constructive talks" with the families and that they understand the sense of frustration.

"We cannot ignore the mistakes of the past but we must be thorough now," she said.

It's hard to argue with both views.

We know from last year's Independent Panel report into the disaster that police and ambulance statements were altered to paint the police in a better light.

What we don't know yet is how many accounts from the fans themselves were altered, changed or even rewritten.

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Girl, 14, Snatched In Atlanta Break-In

A 14-year-old girl has been abducted by armed men who broke into her home in Atlanta.

Two men apparently entered the house through a back door around 2.15am on Tuesday and snatched Ayvani Hope Perez.

Police said the youngster's mother had tried to hide her two children - Ayvani and a 15-year-old boy.

Officer Phong Nguyen said the two men had demanded money and jewellery from the mother during the break-in.

He added that when she said she did not have any, they kidnapped the child.

One of the men shot and killed the family dog because it started barking, Officer Nguyen went on.

Ayvani was last seen in a grey car - a Dodge Charger or Chevy Malibu - that the men left in in Ellenwood, Clayton County.

Artist's impression of the two suspects. Pic: Clayton County police

Officer Nguyen told Sky News he did not believe Ayvani knew the suspects and it appeared to be a "random act".

The policeman told CBS: "The mother actually tried to hide the two kids.

"There was a little dog in the house that started barking. So the intruder shot the dog.

"They demanded money and jewellery from the mother, at which time she didn't have any money or jewellery, so she told them that. Instead they kidnapped the 14-year-old girl."

Police are now stopping and searching cars and are also using a helicopter in their search for the missing teenager.

A child abduction alert has also been issued by authorities.

The girl is described as Hispanic, with brown eyes and black hair.

She is 4ft 9in tall and was wearing blue and grey Star Wars pyjama bottoms and a blue and grey "Super Hero" shirt.

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Washington Navy Yard Killer 'Hearing Voices'

US Deadliest Shootings

Updated: 10:32am UK, Tuesday 17 September 2013

The shooting at the Washington navy yard has been described by Barack Obama as "yet another mass shooting". It is part of a grim list in modern US history.

:: Sandy Hook, Connecticut, December 14, 2012:

Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before opening fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults. He then turned the gun on himself.

It is the worst school shooting in America's history and second only to the Virginia Tech massacre in terms of the country's deadliest ever attacks.

Both attacks make up a grim history of mass murders using firearms in the US.

:: Aurora, Colorado, July 20, 2012:

A masked gunman burst in on the Century 16 cinema during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises throwing tear gas before opening fire.

He killed 12 and injured 58. James Eagan Holmes, 24, is the sole suspect and was arrested at the scene. He will appear in court in January.

:: Fort Hood, Killeen, Texas, November 5, 2009:

A 42-year-old US Army Major, serving as a psychiatrist, opened fire inside the US military base killing 13 and wounding 29 in an attack deemed an act of terrorism. Hasan was shot and captured and is paralysed from the waist down.

Before the killing he had been in touch with the late al Qaeda recruiter Anwar al Awlaki to ask whether he would be considered a martyr if he died shooting US soldiers.

:: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007:

Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 and injured 17 in America's deadliest shooting. He launched two separate attacks at the campus two hours apart before killing himself.

Cho had a history of mental illness and was in therapy through his school years.

:: Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006:

Charles Carl Roberts shot dead five and injured five in an attack at an Amish school. The 32-year-old dish washer at a local restaurant then killed himself.

He was driven by anger at God over the death of his premature daughter.

:: Red Lake Indian Reservation, March 21, 2005:

Sixteen-year-old Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather and grandfather's companion before opening fire at Red Lake High School. He killed nine and injured seven, then took his own life.

He blamed years of school bullying for the attack.

:: Forth Worth, Sept 25, 1999:

Unemployed white supremacist Larry Gene Ashbrook opened fire on the congregation of Wedgwood Baptist Church, killing seven and wounding seven. He then turned the gun on himself.

Ashbrook, 47, was a member of a group that advocated killing minorities.

:: Atlanta, July 29, 1999:

Mark Orrin Barton, a trader, opened fire in two investment offices killing nine and wounding 12. He killed himself after a six-hour police manhunt.

The 44-year-old had been upset by big financial losses.

:: Columbine High School, Colorado, April 20, 1999:

Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire on schoolmates after bombs they had planted in the cafeteria failed to go off. They killed 13 and injured 21 before killing themselves.

The students were motivated by their anger at society. Harris had a history of depression.

:: McDonald's, San Ysidro, California, July 18 1984:

Welder James Huberty walked into a McDonald's and opened fire killing 21 people and wounding 19 before being shot by a police sniper.

The 51-year-old thought society was about to collapse. When asked where he was going as he left the house for the killing, he told his wife: "hunting humans".

:: University of Texas, Austin, August 1, 1966:

Engineering student Charles Joseph Whitman, 25, opened fire on students from the 28th floor of the main campus building. He killed 13 and wounded 32 before being shot dead by a police marksman. He also killed his wife and mother.

In a note he said he was suffering irrational thoughts and wanted to relieve his wife and mother from suffering but offered no explanation for the university attack.

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Clegg: Every Infant To Get Free School Lunch

By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor

Nick Clegg has announced plans to give free school meals to all infant schoolchildren.

The proposal, which will be a centrepiece of his leader's speech, will cost the exchequer £600,000 annually.

The Deputy Prime Minister says it is a key part of his drive to help people with the cost of living.

"It's great, great news for all families with small children in those first three years of primary school," he told Sky News.

"It will save them about £400 per child per year."

The Liberal Democrats say that pilot schemes have demonstrated free school meals also have a positive impact on educational attainment.

Mr Clegg said: "I think it's a way of giving every child that good start in life, because we all know - I certainly know as a parent - that a healthy, hot meal at lunchtime is the best way of making sure that a child can concentrate and do well in the classroom during the course of the rest of the day."

The flagship policy to emerge from the Liberal Democrats' Glasgow conference will be balanced in two weeks' time by a parallel announcement from the Conservatives.

It is thought inevitable that David Cameron's party will adopt his long-cherished proposal for a tax break for working couples.

The married tax break is not supported by the Liberal Democrats but they will allow it to pass as the coalition agreement provides for.

"I don't support it," Mr Clegg said, "because I cannot understand what is remotely fair about saying to an unmarried taxpayer you're going to have to pay higher taxes to help your neighbour - just because they got married - get lower taxes.

"Our approach, by contrast, is to help all families with small children."

Neither announcement is likely to be a gamechanger come the election in 2015.

But after a lengthy period during which cuts and austerity were the order of the day, the governing parties will be relieved to be at last in a position where they can spend significant sums and demonstrate their positive priorities to the electorate.

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