By Eric King-
Social workers failed a 14 year old teenager shot dead in East London, a Serious Case Review has found.
A Serious Case Review (SCR) commissioned by Newham Safeguarding Children Board
(NSCB) has pointed a hand of blame to social workers. Chris was shot at close range in Newham On September 4 and was transported to the Royal London Hospital. Chris died later in hospital, with his family around him, after his life support was turned off.
The Serious Case Review found alarming failings by Newham Children’s Services to act promptly and appropriately. ”At various junctures multi-agency meetings took place, to which a manager from Newham’s children’s services was invited but did not attend, meaning assessments “did not keep pace” with escalating risks.
Corey’s allocated social worker, who was employed via an agency, left in early 2017, meaning a police letter in support of rehousing was never forwarded to East Thames. After the social worker’s departure support “waned” when the teenager temporarily moved to South London, though he remained on Newham’s educational roll.
“At the point [Corey] returned to Newham, there was sufficient evidence to review the case and escalate to child protection as it was the view of the multi-agency partnership that he was at significant risk of harm,” the review said. “This did not happen.”
Information that young Chris Corey has bought a knife, a bullet proof vest, and that his mother had seized and disposed of £600 worth of drugs, should have been enough to get the best of social services in action to try and save Corey from the destruction that eventually ended his life. Corey reportedly suffered from ADHD , and fell into arguments in almost every setting he was placed, including family members. The world of gangs and drug dealers was a catastrophic mix with his complex being.
The Serious Case Review took an exploratory, analytical and reflective journey of Chris’s life, identifying opportunities to learn from his tragic death. It takes into account police reports from April 2016 that states Chris was ‘associating with troublemakers’. The officer believed that he may be a target for gangs as he was easily influenced and was associating with gang members.It is apparent that by 2016 there were multiple complex and long standing difficulties that required.
The review also states that a full assessment of family dynamics was necessary in this
case in order to have put in place diversionary and early prevention when Chris’s problematic, and
potentially exploitative, peer associations were beginning to develop. This did not happen.
BROKEN HOME
Young Corey was separated from primary school classmates in 2014, when he started at Forest Gate Community School in Newham. The product of a broken home, he often told his peers his father was dead rather than inform them of the split. This was to avoid the feeling of rejection that accompanied his father’s absence from his life. Diagnosed with ADHD, Corey was considered a nuisance in school, and suffered repeat exclusions over the next two years before being referred in 2016 to a specialist unit.
His referral to Tunmarsh school was the beginning of a path that would ultimately lead to his death. After several referrals in the next 12 months were made to Newham children’s services to no avail, matters got worse. Chris Corey was reported to have bought a “Rambo-style” knife and bulletproof vest, and in December 2016 told his mother he been pressured into selling drugs and was “in fear for his life”.
“Children’s social care records at this time note that evidence pointed strongly to [Corey] being groomed by older young people for the purposes of selling drugs and being involved in gang related activities,” the review said.
By early 2017 Corey’s mother arrangement’s were made for Chris to stay with relatives in South London. She continued to express written concerns to children’s social care of her son’s life and welfare. Although, Corey became involved with Lewisham’s youth offending team after being arrested for carrying a knife, the Serious Case Review found that his case was not transferred to local children’s services. Corey was undoubtedly a difficult child, he once attacked his mother when she physically tried to prevent him leaving the house. Police noted he was easily influenced and hanging with gang members.
In June 2017, Corey returned to Newham after falling out with his uncles and continued to work with youth offending services in the East London borough. Taxis had to be arranged to take him to and from appointments due to the potential risk to his safety. The Police shared information with Newham Triage (MASH) in April, indicating concerns regarding gang activity and association with older, pro-criminal peers. The decision was made not to progress to Initial Child Protection Conference (ICPC) and instead
to refer to the Youth Offenders Team.
Chris had complained he was physically being abused by his mother who was chastising him when he got out of hand. No substantiating evidence of the abuse was found, although his mother confirmed that form discipline sometimes required physical punishment.
CONCERNS
Newham professionals shared concerns with the council’s children’s services on seven separate occasions, resulting in three periods of involvement. The investigation found there where missed opportunities right from Corey’s first involvement with children’s services in 2013, relating to concerns his mother had “physically chastised” him.
“It is clear from case records [Corey] was presenting with a range of emerging, yet complex needs at this time,” the review said. “The assessment states that [he] fabricated the reported incidents to ‘take the heat off him’ but his thought processes and motivation were not further explored, nor were the incidents it is inferred he tried to deflect attention from.” In 2016, an offer of support was made to Corey’s family. But they declined on the basis that it failed to “adequately understand or respond to the context of [his] behaviour and the underlying and complex risk factors at play within the community and home”.
The review found that by this point there were multiple issues requiring intervention. “A full assessment of family dynamics was necessary to put in place diversionary and early prevention when [Corey’s] problematic, potentially exploitative, peer associations were beginning to develop,” it said. “This did not happen.”
OMISSIONS
The serious case review identified a number of key omissions by children’s services during the final months of Corey’s life.
In November 2016, Chris Corey went missing from home for a week, returning with “a number of high-value possessions”. Children’s services were made aware of this but no independent return interview was carried out. “[This] absence would indicate there is still work to do shifting professional perception from offender to potentially exploited child,” the review said.
The next month, children’s services became aware of Corey’s confession to his mother that he was being coerced into selling drugs and that she had destroyed a large bag of them. But no strategy meeting or assessment was triggered, despite “clear indicators of risk for both [Corey] and his family”, the review found, nor was information shared with Tunmarsh school.
SNAPSHOTS
Newham council’s children’s services and youth offending team amounted to “snapshots”, giving “limited opportunity to develop planned interventions that effectively responded to [Corey’s] needs”, the review concluded.
Social worker churn meant casework stopped and started as practitioners moved on, denying continuity of care and resulting in information not being shared at critical moments, it added.
“It is clear that despite concerns across agencies, relating to [Corey’s] vulnerability, systems in place at the time of his death did not effectively respond to [him] as an at risk child,” the review said.
‘