Cumbria's MPs launch joint campaign calling for Poppi Worthington inquiry

MPs for Barrow and Furness, John Woodcock; Copeland, Trudy Harrison; Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron; and Workington, Sue Hayman, have today (Sunday January 21) issued an open letter to the prime minister.

They are preparing to launch The Poppi Worthington Petition for Safer Children on the Downing Street website.

In their letter to Mrs May, they said: “Nothing will bring back little Poppi Worthington, the 13-month-old from Barrow whose death and the failures that surround it have shaken our community and shocked the nation. Nor is it likely that anyone will ever be brought to trial for her death, despite a family court judge ruling that she was probably horrifically abused by her father in the hours before her death, and a coroner confirming that view last week.

“But, Prime Minister, you can act to ensure the manifold failings that led to this dreadful tragedy and injustice cannot be repeated. You can make other vulnerable children safer by launching a public inquiry to examine how so many warning signs that Poppi could be in danger were missed, and how they could be missed again.”

Mr Woodcock had already spoken in support of The Mail's #justiceforpoppi campaign for a public inquiry, relaunched immediately following the conclusion of an inquest into her death.

Poppi died aged 13 months old on December 12, 2012 just a day after she had taken her first two steps.

Last week, a coroner ruled she had been sexually assaulted by her 50-year-old father, Paul Worthington, in her final hours. She suffocated shortly after the attack having been placed to sleep in Mr Worthington's double bed, Cumbria's senior coroner David Roberts ruled.

The tragic account brought to an end a five-year quest to find out how Poppi died, after a series of expert pathologists had all agreed her death was medically unascertained. Mr Roberts's conclusion mirrors that of High Court judge Mr Justice Jackson, now Lord Justice Jackson, who ruled in January 2016 that Mr Worthington had sexually abused his daughter before her death.

Mr Worthington has always denied the allegation.

The coroner added that he had been unable to "form a view" as to the "general honesty and credibility" of Mr Worthington because he had refused to answer questions directly while giving evidence to the inquest.

Forthright criticisms of an investigation carried out by Cumbria Constabulary were made by the coroner during his conclusion. Key pieces of evidence including Mr Worthington's bedsheet, which showed a wet stain on police photographs, Poppi's pink elephant pillow, and the laptop used by Mr Worthington to watch x-rated adult pornography, were not seized or obtained. Mr Roberts accepted, however, that improvements had now been secured by the constabulary to ensure failures of this nature could not be repeated.

Now though, Cumbria's MPs want a full and far-reaching inquiry into what went wrong. They want lessons to be learned from the process so that child safeguarding procedures and police disciplinary processes can be made fit for the future to prevent further miscarriages of justice.

Praising Mrs May for her role in instigating government investigations into the FGH maternity unit and the Hillsborough disaster, the letter concludes: “In Poppi’s memory, please do the right thing again and order a public inquiry to restore confidence in our police force and improve child protection. Please act to stop other children from being failed like she was.”

So far, four of the county's six MPs representing all three main political parties have signed the letter.

Rory Stewart, Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, will not be able to join the campaign as he holds a position as a minister in parliament.

Visit www.nwemail.co.uk to read the MPs’ letter in full and to sign the petition.

The letter in full

Dear Prime Minister,

Nothing will bring back little Poppi Worthington, the 13-month-old from Barrow whose death and the failures that surround it have shaken our community and shocked the nation. Nor is it likely that anyone will ever be brought to trial for her death, despite a family court judge ruling that she was probably horrifically abused by her father in the hours before her death, and a coroner confirming that view last week.

But, Prime Minister, you can act to ensure the manifold failings that led to this dreadful tragedy and injustice cannot be repeated. You can make other vulnerable children safer by launching a public inquiry to examine how so many warning signs that Poppi could be in danger were missed, and how they could be missed again.

Today we are launching The Poppi Worthington Petition for Safer Children on the Downing Street website.

We are calling for an inquiry that will make recommendations to:

- improve child safeguarding processes which led to Poppi not being known to social services despite a deeply troubled family history that contained many years of abuse and contact with the social care system;

- strengthen the police disciplinary process which saw fit to demote rather than sack the investigation’s lead police officer despite the fact she was found guilty of gross negligence;

- determine whether Cumbria Police has truly learnt the lessons of their deeply flawed investigation which saw vital evidence lost, did not interview the parents until eight months after Poppi’s death, and did not record her death as a potential crime for many months, leaving other children in danger;

- examine whether the resources provided to agencies involved in child protection to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities.

There have been a number of reviews into particular failings regarding Poppi’s case. And since her death, child protection at a local and national level has improved. Yet there remain major vulnerabilities in child safety highlighted by Poppi’s death which have not properly been examined, and which those recent improvements have not fixed.

- The serious case review (SCR) into Poppi’s death highlighted that midwives and health visitors did not apparently have access to vital information about her highly troubled past nor intelligence on her father. Because they had no access to this information, those professionals did not alert social services that newborn Poppi might need protection. The welcome introduction of the Child Protection Information Sharing project does not cover this issue as it is only designed to give health professionals access to information about children who are already looked after or on a child protection plan. It does not cover adults even when that information may be vital to prompt action to safeguard a child. The improved information sharing guidance procedures recommended by the local safeguarding board in response to the SCR into Poppi’s death cannot cover this either;

- Ofsted has had a long programme of engagement in Cumbria’s children’s services but its inspection processes focus on the need to improve the way it safeguards children already known to social services. The improvements they demand in Cumbria and elsewhere are not targeted the issue of children like Poppi who were left vulnerable because slipped through the net completely;

- Similarly while HMICFRS inspectors have found improvements in Cumbria Police’s child protection practices during the follow up in September last year to an earlier inspection, this is a separate issue to the negligence involving the investigation into Poppi’s death. There has as yet been no detailed, independent public appraisal of the force’s efforts to improve its procedures to prevent a repeat of those failings.

The bombshell verdict by the coroner into Poppi’s death has heightened a crisis in public confidence in the vital public services that work to keep children safe. A public enquiry is needed to restore that public confidence and make recommendations to make children across the country safer.

Your government did the right thing in granting a public inquiry into neonatal deaths in Morecambe bay even though there were voices at the time who said existing piecemeal investigations were enough. You yourself did the right thing as home secretary with the Hillsborough Independent Panel. The result has improved safety in maternity units across the country and helped restore pride and confidence in our local hospital.

In Poppi’s memory, please do the right thing again and order a public inquiry to restore confidence in our police force and improve child protection. Please act to stop other children from being failed like she was.

Yours in hope,

John Woodcock MP

Trudy Harrison MP

Tim Farron MP

Sue Hayman MP

The petition

The Poppi Worthington Petition for Safer Children

Family court judge Mr Justice Peter Jackson and senior coroner for Cumbria David Roberts have both ruled that 13-month- old Poppi Worthington was probably horrifically abused before she died at her home in Barrow-in- Furness in December 2012. Yet no one has been charged over her death after officers made a series of mistakes during Cumbria Police’s investigation into her death.

The fact Poppi was not known to social services before she died has exposed real problems in child protection practices in Cumbria and across the UK. We call on the Prime Minister to order a public inquiry to make recommendations to:

- improve child safeguarding processes which led to Poppi not being known to social services despite a deeply troubled family history that contained many years of abuse and contact with the social care system;

- strengthen the police disciplinary process which saw fit to demote rather than sack the investigation’s lead police officer despite the fact she was found guilty of gross negligence;

- determine whether Cumbria Police has truly learnt the lessons of their deeply flawed investigation which saw vital evidence lost, did not interview the parents until eight months after Poppi’s death, and did not record her death as a potential crime for many months, leaving other children in danger;

- Examine whether the resources provided to agencies involved in child protection to fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities.