Baby death review finds shortcomings in care

A serious case review into the death of a three-month-old baby who was killed by an abusive father has found shortcomings in Bristol’s care services.

The review found “inertia” amongst agency workers and a failure to act on evidence of grooming and domestic abuse which eventually led to Paris Vince-Stephens’ death.

“This case could not be more concerning, in terms of a lack of recognition of risk indicators, inertia amongst workers in agencies other than social care and a seeming lack of understanding about their own accountability,” says the report by the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board. 

The board expressed its “profound regret” at the findings, while Avon and Somerset Police admitted “more could have been done” to prevent the death.

Three-month-old Paris, from Southmead, died from “catastrophic” brain injuries sustained while being shaken violently by father William Stephens.

Stephens was jailed for six years for manslaughter after a trial at Bristol Crown Court in which mother Danah Vince was cleared of allowing the death of a child. During the trial it was revealed Stephens had a low IQ and struggled with reading and writing.

Vince was found dead at her home in Southmead last December. An inquest last week found she committed suicide after receiving physical and verbal abuse in public about her part in her baby’s death.

The new report shows that police and social services were aware of a long string of domestic abuse allegations against Stephens, who had began a relationship with Danah when she was just 13.

Alleged abuse included evidence that Vince had been burned with a cigarette, strangled, dragged out of the house, kicked and hit with a metal dog chain.

As evidence of domestic abuse built, social services made the couple sign “partnership agreements” not to use domestic violence, which were broken and drawn up again, without telling other agencies.

The report found that agreements were signed as Danah feared her children would be taken away otherwise to “get social workers of our back”.

Police even took out a restraining order against Williams not to live at Vince’s house, which was also broken.

Various agencies were involved with the couple at various points before and during their relationship, but the report found they were not successful in linking up evidence and “escalating” the case to the point where Paris could have been removed from the environment.

And in final a damning blow to the board, the report concluded that many of its findings were “similar to the findings of the previous three serious case reviews in Bristol”.

The report said the failures were “extremely perplexing” in light of three child deaths and case reviews in four years in Bristol.

The report made eleven recommendations, some of which have already been acted upon. No disciplinary action has been taken over any individuals involved.

Sally Lewis, chairwoman of the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board, said: “Where shortcomings have been identified I want to express our most profound regret.

She added: “Improvements are already in place including better information and knowledge sharing to help spot risks early, revised training for professional staff and new processes and guidance to ensure any agency that comes into contact with a child or family at risk can respond more promptly and appropriately.”

Det Supt Carolyn Belafonte said: “We recognise and fully accept that more could have been done to help prevent this tragedy and we want to learn the lessons from this case.”

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