NSPCC recommends closing loophole for cruel and violent parents

The sentencing of the carers of baby Rhys Biggs today (Tuesday 10 March) highlights a loophole which allows carers who cause or allow deliberate serious injury of a child to evade justice, says the NSPCC.

The NSPCC is urging Lord Laming to recommend closing this loophole in his child protection report to the UK Government on Thursday.

Two-month-old Rhys Biggs sustained a catalogue of horrendous injuries before his death in 2006.  It was reported that the boy's right wrist and shoulder were broken and his ribs repeatedly crushed and fractured during a horrific campaign of cruelty. The court heard how on one occasion the helpless baby spent hours screaming in agony. His mother and her boyfriend were convicted of assault and cruelty rather than murder or manslaughter because the cause of the boy's death could not be determined.

The NSPCC says the case highlights a gap in the law. It believes more needs to be done to bring parents and carers to justice when they brutally wound or disable their children.

The charity wants the law of familial homicide extended to include cases of serious injury.  Familial homicide legislation allows courts to convict carers of causing or allowing the death of a child when they cannot prove which of them killed the child. It was introduced in 2005, following a long NSPCC campaign.(1)  Since then, at least 22 carers, including those responsible for Baby P's death, have been brought to justice or are awaiting trial. (2)

NSPCC lawyer Barbara Esam says: "The law needs to be addressed to cover cases where a carer has inflicted serious injuries on a child - where the child does not die or where it cannot be proved that the child died from the injuries inflicted.

"Before the law of familial homicide was brought in, parents and carers could escape justice by remaining silent or blaming each for the death of a child in their care. While that loophole has been closed, they can still evade justice for inflicting life-threatening but non-fatal injuries on their children. (3)

"We must secure full justice for children who are battered and bruised at home and left disabled for the rest of their lives. The gap in the law must be closed so that cruel and violent parents face charges which reflect the serious nature of their offences." (4)

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Notes to editors

(1) In 2002, the NSPCC brought together legal and childcare experts to form The 'Which Of You Did It?' Working Group. It published a report which recommended a change in law so that carers could be held accountable when a child died in their care, whether they had struck the fatal blow or failed to act to prevent the death of a child. The Government recognised the need for change and brought in familial homicide legislation with the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004.  It came into effect in England and Wales in March 2005.

(2) Source: Ministry of Justice crime statistics 2006 and 2007, and court reporting in the media from 1 January 2008 onwards.

(3) Examples of injuries include brain damage, broken bones and punctured lungs.  

(4) For example, two weeks ago a couple were given a suspended sentence after being convicted of cruelty for the appalling injuries four-month-old twins suffered while in their care. The babies were found to have multiple bruises all over their bodies; it was reported that one had brain and eye injuries caused by shaking and a blow to her head.  The judge at Newcastle Crown Court said he was in 'an impossible position' because the twins' parents blamed each other. Without legislation to bring them to justice, the pair walked away with a suspended sentence. The judge described the trial as 'something of a charade' because the court was unsure which parent inflicted the injuries.