London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 24, 2025

Child deaths by assault: will appalling brutality spur on reviews to fix a failing system?

Child deaths by assault: will appalling brutality spur on reviews to fix a failing system?

Public policy faces crucial challenge in wake of cases of torture, neglect and killings of defenceless children in Britain
It may seem as if the UK is undergoing a exceptional run of child deaths: in December the horrific cases of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, and Star Hobson came to light through the courts, followed by that of Kyrell Matthews in March, and now another appalling tragedy, five-year-old Logan Mwangi.

Have child deaths by assault and neglect become more common? UK data suggests one child a week is killed in the UK on average, according to the NSPCC, and this has changed little over the last five years. All deaths are devastating and sad but most are barely heard of; only a handful, like these, achieve public and media notoriety.

All the above cases stand out for the staggering brutality and viciousness they bear witness to: each unwound a story of abuse, torture, assault and neglect visited on defenceless children by sadistic parents and carers (and in the case of Logan, a teenager who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was also involved).

Logan’s lifeless body was found in a river on the morning of 31 July 2021. He had over 50 injuries, including catastrophic damage to his brain and liver and other internal organs. This was the culmination of months of terrifying violence and neglect on the part of his mother, stepfather and the teenager, known as “Boy X”.

The awfulness of Logan’s final months contrasted vividly with his innocence and zest for life. He was a friendly, energetic and popular little boy, according to his primary school in Bridgend, Wales. He was bright, happy and inquisitive, the school said in a tribute, “with the kind of smile that could light up a classroom”.

Such cases tend to invoke two immediate public responses: despair at the wickedness and inadequacy of the assailants, who often combine immense capacity for inflicting pain with exceptional cunning in covering up their misdeeds; and concern over whether the safeguarding authorities could have done more to prevent the crimes.

There will be concern too that these cases signify a pandemic uptick in abuse and violence against children (although Kyrell’s death predated Covid-19). Certainly this has been a period when family stress has proliferated, when safeguarding has become in some ways less vigilant in lockdown, (a factor exploited, it seems, by Logan’s parents) and when vulnerable children have slipped off the radar.

Occasionally, such terrible cases lead directly to policy change. The cases of Maria Colwell in 1973, Victoria Climbie in 2000 and Peter Connelly (“Baby P”) in 2008, all led to reforms of the child protection system.

The recent cluster of child deaths could have a similar effect; two significant reviews of children’s services are expected to report within weeks.

The first, a government review, announced in the wake of the conviction of Arthur’s killers – his mother was found guilty of murder, his stepfather of manslaughter – will look at the lessons to be learned from safeguarding shortcomings in Solihull, where Arthur was killed, and how they could be applied nationally.

This is likely to be followed by a separate wide-ranging independent national review of children’s social care, chaired by Josh MacAlister, founder of the Frontline charity. Promised in the 2019 Tory general election manifesto, it was billed as “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to overhaul a system perceived as failing vulnerable young people.

Together the reviews will demonstrate many fundamental issues – the adequacy of a system MacAlister has already described as a “tower of Jenga held together by sellotape,” starved of investment for over a decade in which rising child poverty has led to surging numbers of children brought under the auspices of social care.

The determination evinced by the perpetrators of these child killings suggests those people could elude even the most alert of systems. But as the child practice review into the death of Kyrell concluded, such cases happen in a “bigger systems context” of staff burnout, high caseloads, crisis management, and inadequate leadership.

Fixing this wider context of children’s services will not come cheap, and there are no easy fixes. Responding adequately to the lessons and legacy of Arthur, Star, Kyrell and Logan is shaping up to be one of the most important public policy challenges facing the government.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
China and Russia Deploy Seductive Espionage Networks to Infiltrate U.S. Tech Sector
Apple’s ‘iPhone Air’ Collapses After One Month — Another Major Misstep for the Tech Giant
Graham Potter Begins New Chapter as Sweden Head Coach on Short-Term Deal
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa Alleges Poison Plot via Chocolate and Jam
Lakestar to Halt External Fundraising as Investor in Revolut and Spotify
U.S. Innovation Ranking Under Scrutiny as China Leads Output Outputs but Ranks 10th
Three Men Arrested in London on Suspicion of Spying for Russia
Porsche Reverses EV Strategy as New CEO Bets on Petrol and Hybrids
Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Global Order
Andreessen Horowitz Sets Sights on Ten-Billion-Dollar Fund for Tech Surge
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
‘Frightening’ First Night in Prison for Sarkozy: Inmates Riot and Shout ‘Little Nicolas’
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
×