The parents of a four-year-old disabled girl were jailed at Middlesex Crown Court yesterday for a total of 22 years for “sustained cruelty” towards her.
Kimberley Harte received an 11-and-a-half year term and Samuel Duncan a 10-and-a-half year sentence for causing grievous bodily harm with intent to their daughter, who has cerebral palsy.
The abuse started a month after the girl, known as child B, and her brother were returned to their parents’ care by Westminster children’s services.
A serious case review by Westminster Local Safeguarding Children Board criticised child protection professionals for being too parent-focused and not seeing the two children on their own after their return home.
However, it cleared practitioners across all agencies of individual errors and poor practice and said they took their responsibilities seriously.
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