| Flowers in Gods Garden
- Articles |
26/09/01 - Parents hear how
daughter was beaten to death
Berthe and Francis Climbie have been told how their daughter
was beaten and starved. They are listening to details
of their eight-year-old daughter Victoria's "lonely
and miserable" death on the first day of a public
hearing into her murder.
The child died last year while under the care of an aunt
and her partner, despite the involvement of social services,
police and the NHS. Opening the inquiry, chairman Lord
Laming says what happened to Victoria will be an "enduring
turning point for securing proper protection of children
in this country".
As Victoria's parents sat with heads bowed, counsel to
the inquiry Neil Garnham QC painted a picture of a bright
and loving child described as "a little ray of sunshine".
He told the packed south London inquiry she would "go
twirling down the hospital ward in a white dress and pink
wellingtons, given to her by the staff because she had
no belongings of her own.
Mr Garnham says staff at the North Middlesex Hospital
where Victoria was first admitted in 1999 described her
as a delightful and affectionate child. On February 24,
2000 she was taken to the accident and emergency unit
at the hospital by her aunt.
She was malnourished and covered in cuts and scars, Mr
Garnham says. Victoria was admitted to London's St Mary's
Hospital in a critical condition and died the next day
following a cardiac arrest and multiple system failure.
The inquiry is calling the victim by the name given to
her by her parents rather than Anna, which was used by
Kouao and Manning. |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
|
|
| Flowers in Gods Garden |
|
| Paul Pearson |
|
| Rosie Palmer |
|
| Sophie Hook |
|
| Sarah Payne |
|
| Victoria Climbie |
|
| Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman |
- Documents
- Audio
|
| The Yorkshire Ripper |
- Video
|
|
