Removal of boss from child safety role upheld

THE decision by Children’s Secretary Ed Balls to strip former children’s services chief Sharon Shoesmith of her post following the death of Baby P was upheld by the High Court yesterday.

Baby P was just 17 months old when he died in August 2007 at the hands of his mother, Tracey Connelly, her lover Steven Barker and their lodger, Barker’s brother Jason Owen.

The boy had suffered 50 injuries, including a broken back, despite receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over the last eight months of his life.