Inquiry call over child manslaughter

A judge has called for an inquiry after hearing how a mentally ill man strangled his six-year-old son with a shoelace.

Mr Justice Wright said council chiefs should decide whether lessons could be learned as a result of the "tragic case" of Peter Hill, who admitted killing his son, Jason.

Hill pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court on Tuesday to the manslaughter of his son at their home near Bedford in August last year.

The judge ordered Hill, 40, of Shortstown, near Bedford, to be detained indefinitely at a hospital under the provisions of the Mental Health Act.

Things had been building up

Peter Hill

Hill, a paranoid schizophrenic, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The court was told Hill's wife Suzanne moved out of their home and into a womens' refuge five months before Jason's death.

Police found Jason's body in bed at the house in Shortstown on 28 August last year after Hill had turned up at a hospital in Bedford.

After strangling the litte boy, Hill had laid his body under a duvet, with coins on his eyes, before going out and attempting to electrocute himself by climbing a pylon, said prosecutor Frances Oldham QC.

"He admitted strangling Jason with a shoelace.

Lessons learned

"He could offer no explanation as to why he killed his son other than to say 'things had been building up'."

Mr Justice Wright said he did not wish to apportion blame and understood the pressure social workers were under.

Bedfordshire County Council said an independent review of the case was under way.

"I am not seeking to imply any criticism or any blame.

"The chief executive of the authority should review as a matter of urgency the history and involvement of social services and other relevant authorities in this particularly tragic case, to consider what lessons, if any, should be learned."

Hidden illness

Psychiatrists diagnosed Hill as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia after Jason's death.

Experts said it was possible Hill had hidden his symptoms in the past.

"We are extremely sorry that this young boy died at the hands of his father and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time," said Lyn Burns, director of social services at Bedford council.

She said the review of the case would be made public after it finishes at the end of this month.