Information-sharing failures revealed

The school and the youth offending team attended by a 15-year-old
boy who killed his classmate failed to share information about his
self-harming and aggressive behaviour, a serious case review has
found.

Alan Pennell, now 16, was jailed for life after stabbing Luke
Walmsley, 14, at Birkbeck School, Lincolnshire, in March
2003.

In a review published last week, Lincolnshire area child protection
committee found that the school was aware that Pennell had been
self-harming but he was not seen by a school nurse.

The review said: “If the self-harming had been brought to the
attention of the school nurse, she could have managed the
case.”

A youth offending team that saw Pennell after he assaulted a pupil
in 2003 was aware of his self-harming but failed to refer him to a
health worker, the review found, which rapped the YOT for failing
to liaise with the school. But the ACPC concluded that the stabbing
of Walmsley could not have been prevented.