Lauren inquiry ruled out

Lauren Wright weighed just two stone when she died

The government has rejected calls for a public inquiry into the death of six-year-old Lauren Wright who died after months of abuse by her stepmother.

Health minister Hazel Blears said a full-scale investigation of how Lauren was failed by the authorities was not justified.

Instead, she suggested it could form part of a wide-ranging examination of child abuse, sparked by the Victoria Climbie case.

Former Tory cabinet minister Gillian Shepherd, MP for Lauren's village of Welney in Norfolk, led the cross-party call for a public inquiry in a Commons debate on Tuesday.

Mrs Shephard: "A catalogue of blind eyes"

Mrs Shepherd said: "The bare facts of Lauren's death conceal the appalling reality that she died by slow degrees, in public, observed by the local community and under the gaze of doctors, teachers and social workers.

"The trial evidence revealed a catalogue of blind eyes, missed chances and professional errors on the part of those entrusted with the care of Lauren."

Tracey and Craig Wright are awaiting sentence after being convicted earlier this month of manslaughter and the wilful neglect of the child.

Lauren was killed by a blow to the stomach from her stepmother, destroying her digestive system and bringing 17 months of abuse to an end.

'Monumental task'

Mrs Shepherd said Lauren's death should not be "obfuscated" by linking it into the Climbie Inquiry.

"The public will not be fobbed off this time. We need a full inquiry into what went wrong. Tragic Lauren deserves nothing else."

She was backed by several other local MPs including Labour's member for Norwich North, Ian Gibson who gave his "whole-hearted support".

Ms Blears said one child a week died from child abuse and the country faced a "monumental task" in preventing it.

"Lauren's death clearly should not have happened. But I want to be very clear that Lauren was not killed by social workers or health workers.

"Mistakes were clearly made but we must not place the responsibility for her death solely at the door of the statutory agencies involved."

After the debate, Dr Gibson said the minister had indicated to him that the Lauren Wright case could form part of the Climbie inquiry and Norfolk's director of social services had been invited to take part.