An independent significant case review into the death of Mikaeel Kular says the youngster’s death “could not have been predicted”.
The report for the Fife and Edinburgh child protection committees was published today.
Mikaeel died two days after being beaten repeatedly by his mother Rosdeep Adekoya following a family day out in January 2014.
After discovering his lifeless body on the floor of their Edinburgh home in Ferry Gait Crescent, she put it in the suitcase and drove about 25 miles to Kirkcaldy to hide it in woodland behind her sister’s house.
She dialled 999 to report him missing to police, sparking a major two-day search operation involving the emergency services and hundreds of local people who volunteered to help.
Adekoya was jailed for 11 years after she admitted killing the three-year-old and hiding his body in a suitcase.
The report says: “The Review Team were fully in agreement that there was no evidence in reviewing this case that workers could have predicted that Ms A would have caused the death of MK.
“There was no history of Ms A using physical punishment against MK or any of his siblings, and there was corroborative evidence that MK was physically well cared for and his basic needs fully met.
“The home conditions were of a high standard.
“The review team were of the view that Ms A’s behaviour towards her son was unprecedented and out of character.”
The review was asked to consider the:History of agency involvement with Mikaeel and his family Response to initial concerns that led to the children becoming looked after and accommodated Support and engagement with the family and children from all agencies Quality of assessments and decision making undertaken regarding planning for the children Information sharing and cross boundary issues Role of the children’s hearing system in decision making and the information provided for the hearings that took place Adherence to policies, protocols and practice guidanceSocial work services in Fife and Edinburgh, NHS Fife and NHS Lothian, Police Scotland, the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA), Children’s Hearings Scotland and the education services in Fife and Edinburgh were all asked to contribute to the review.
The report makes 13 recommendations for improvement to child protection, including better communication between councils and with GP services.For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Courier or try our digital edition.