When the world learned the full horror of Victoria Climbie's death, the finger of blame was immediately pointed at social services.
Her great aunt and her boyfriend were convicted of murder, but why wasn't the eight-year-old saved from their evil actions?
The spotlight was on the Haringey social workers who were responsible for Climbie's protection when she died in 2000.
Why were they so incompetent and how could they be punished? The national media demanded answers.
Social worker Lisa Arthurworrey and her manager Carole Baptiste faced the backlash from journalists about what they were doing while the little girl was being kept in a freezing bath wrapped in nothing but a bin liner. Climbie died from hypothermia and starvation with injuries all over her body.
The government ordered an inquiry to be led by Lord Herbert Laming, a former chief inspector of social services.
Haringey council launched its own investigation into the performance of its child protection team, which has since resulted in the dismissal of both Arthurworrey and Baptiste. Baptiste became the first person to be fined for obstructing a government inquiry after refusing to attend.
The council itself was heavily criticised by Laming after persistent failures to produce relevant documents - some were even discovered in a manager's loft. Social services director Anne Bristow was summoned to the inquiry to explain why so many documents were submitted late. The NSPCC was also called to account for discrepancies in the evidence it supplied.
The murderers Marie-Therese Kouao and Carl Manning gave evidence to the inquiry in unprecedented moves.
They were among more than 150 witnesses at the inquiry, which lasted nearly 10 months. Two years after it was commissioned, and three years after Climbie was murdered, we now have the report into the circumstances of her horrible death.
Involvement of other agencies - police and health
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A full copy of the final report
Interview with Lord LamingHaringey social services recovers
Lessons from previous inquiries
Interview with Victoria Climbie's parents
To read full transcripts from the inquiry click here
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Government Legislation
17 July 2008
Private Member Bills
17 July 2008
Details of government consultations
11 July 2008
