Report: Services failed Omagh fire-tragedy family

Welfare services involved with the family of registered sex offender Arthur McElhill, who killed himself and his family when he set fire to their Omagh home, were guilty of a series of failings, an investigation into the deaths found today.

Heavy drinking depressive McElhill, 36, who doused the downstairs hallway with petrol when his partner threatened to leave him, tried to commit suicide as far back as 1988 before becoming involved in a number of attacks on teenage girls, the report on the Omagh fire tragedy revealed.

Lorraine McGovern, 29, and her five children Caroline, 13, Sean, seven, four-year-old Bellina, one-year-old Clodagh and 10-month-old baby James died alongside Mr McElhill when he torched their terraced home in Lammy Crescent in November last year.

An independent review panel commissioned by Stormont health minister Michael McGimpsey to examine the role of the statutory agencies that dealt with the family highlighted a series of shortcomings.

The team, which was lead by QC Henry Toner, noted that not all agencies were aware that Mr McEnhill had twice been found guilty of indecently assaulting teenage girls in the 1990s, resulting in his imprisonment in 1998.

A failure to share this information undermined the ability of welfare services to assess the potential risk McElhill posed to teenage girls, they said.

This information gap resulted in a teenage girl, who was on the Child Protection Register, being allowed to sleep over at Lammy Crescent in the months before the fire.

The dangers associated with this were only highlighted when a radio conversation between police officers dealing with an incident involving the teenager’s mother was overheard by the area’s sexual offences risk manager.

The investigation team examined the role of the Western Health and Social Care Trust, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Probation Service and Education Welfare Services.

Though they highlighted deficits in good practice and management within the relevant areas of the trust and in the other agencies, they noted that there was no indication or warning of the horrific events that were to unfold on the night of November 13 2007.

The review has made a total of 63 recommendations, some requiring urgent attention.

Mr Toner was not asked to look at the role of the Northern Ireland Sex Offender Strategic Management Committee in dealing with Mr McElhill’s case.

This was subject to a separate review, the findings of which are due to be published later today.

As the events surrounding the fire are still subject to a police inquiry, neither review touched on the incident itself.

Mr McGimpsey said he had directed the Chief Social Services Officer to ensure all the recommendations were fully implemented.

“While the report concludes there is no evidence that anyone working with the family could have known the fire would happen, there is absolutely no doubt that there were failings on the part of health and social services,” he said.

“I want to see immediate action taken to address the deficits which have come to light.”

Mr McGimpsey noted that the wider McGovern and McElhill families were still grieving.

“My deepest sympathies go out to these families who have suffered the heartbreaking loss of their children and grandchildren,” he said.

Patricia Lewley, the Northern Commissioner for Children and Young People, said the cry for help for the McElhill children was left unanswered.

She said no one could ignore children at risk but at Lammey Crescent their voices were not heard.

Ms Lewsley said: “The courage of Caroline in reporting domestic violence was not acted upon. The fact that a teenage girl was staying with a sex offender and the investigation at that time did not deal with the risk to the other children. These risks were never properly dealt with.”

Ms Lewsley said the failure to communicate the risks between all the professionals had been horrifying.

She added: “Nothing was done for these children. The report casts a harsh light on how Caroline, Sean, Bellina, Clodagh and James were let down.

“It is clear from this report that agencies were not talking to each other, individual’s concerns were not listened to. Effectively the cry for help of Caroline was silenced by inaction.”

She said the report’s 63 recommendations must be implemented immediately, but more importantly professionals and individuals must listen and act when a child or young person says they may be at risk.

Ms Lewsley said: “Unfortunately, the report highlights that there are still more than 300 cases of children and young people who have not been allocated a social work team in the Western Health and Social Care Trust alone. I hope the investment announced by the Minister for Health today will reduce this.”