Murdered Child Taken of Register

A toddler killed by his mother had been taken off the child protection register, it has emerged.

Sean Denton, died aged 18 months in Barnet, north London, in October 2007, and his mother Amanda Adams killed herself shortly afterwards.

It is thought it happened after she learned her partner Mark Denton had committed suicide.

Barnet Council said the family had given no cause for concern in the 16 months after he left the register.

Ms Adams had the "tragic and deluded" wish that the family be reunited after death, a review into the case found.

'Profound affect'

Barnet Council said Sean's parents had previously both been convicted of manslaughter in 1999.

The child was taken off the register two months after his birth as the council believed his parents were showing no cause for concern.

The family was also referred to a family centre in the area where monitoring and support was offered and taken up twice a month by Sean's mother from September 2006 and 2007.

But Sean's father unexpectedly committed suicide in Hertfordshire without Barnet Council being informed of the death.

A spokesman for the council said the authority would have acted if they had known Mr Denton had died as his death had a "profound" affect on the child's mother.

A Serious Case Review was launched into Sean's death by the Safeguarding Children Board.

A council source said the confidential review found Barnet Council "had behaved appropriately and in line with government guidance in the case."

He added the review found "that it would be unlikely that intervention would have saved his life due to the mothers wish for the family to be reunited in death."

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What an appalling case this sounds like. The parents were both convicted of manslaughter!! Then the father kills himself. The poor boy never stood a chance of a normal life even if he had survived.

It's a shame. If the father's suicide could push Mum over the edge to that extent, they should have remained on the register. She must have still had problems, even if it's nine years since the manslaughter conviction.

I don't know though. They had been together for quite a while, unlike people like Karen Matthews or Baby P's mum who changed boyfriends frequently. Maybe the fact that they seemed stable and that the baby was looked after until now (assuming that he was) was enough to convince social services to leave them alone.