Starved Khyra's death was 'preventable'

The death of a seven-year-old girl through starvation could have been prevented, according to a serious case review.

It has found that authorities "lost sight" of Khyra Ishaq who suffered months of cruelty at the hands of her mother and stepfather.

A 180-page report from Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board (BSCB) comes more than two years after the youngster's death in May 2008.

BSCB Chairwoman Hilary Thompson said: "The serious case review concludes that although the scale of the abuse inflicted would have been hard to predict, Khyra's death was preventable."

The review which started in the month that Khyra died also said: "There were a number of early missed opportunities for intervention by professionals.

"Three incidents during March 2006 were not progressed, either by failures of paperwork to reach the correct departments, failure to follow safeguarding procedures, or to conduct thorough checks prior to case closure, resulting in any knowledge and intervention remaining purely single agency at that stage."

The report made 18 recommendations for specific action across a number of agencies including the city council, police, and health trusts.

A further 53 areas for improvement were also identified, ten of which have already been acted on, according to Birmingham's children's services.

City council cabinet member for children, young people and families, Les Lawrence, said: "We realise that none of the improvements we and other agencies have put in place can bring Khyra back.

"For that we are profoundly sorry. Today's publication of the serious case review clearly highlights the opportunities missed by a number of agencies to intervene in the abuse being inflicted on Khyra by the people she trusted to look after her."

In March, Khyra's mother Angela Gordon, 35, was sentenced to 15 years and her former partner Junaid Abuhamza, 31, jailed for at least seven-and-a-half years.

They were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

During the trial it emerged that Khyra had been removed from school in December 2007 and subjected to a punishment regime which included standing outside in the cold, having cold water poured over her and beaten with a bamboo cane.