Anna inquiry to span all agencies

Anna suffered months of abuse from Kouao and Manning

An independent inquiry into Anna Climbie's death through neglect and torture is getting under way after Health Secretary Alan Milburn vowed to "get to the bottom of what went wrong".

The eight-year-old suffered "unimaginable abuse" at the hands of her carers great-aunt Marie Therese Kouao and Carl Manning, said the Old Bailey judge who jailed them for life for her murder.

The inquiry, headed by Lord Laming, will look into a catalogue of failings by police, health and social services, Mr Milburn said.

This little girl was murdered by people who were supposed to be caring for her, but she was let down by the system that was supposed to be protecting her

Alan Milburn
Health Secretary

The health secretary said: "This was a needless and dreadful tragedy that took place in the most appalling circumstance imaginable.

"This little girl was murdered by people who were supposed to be caring for her, but she was let down by the system that was supposed to be protecting her.

"She was failed not by one agency and not just once. She was failed repeatedly by a succession of agencies - the police, hospitals and social services.

"All of us have got to do whatever we can to try to prevent this ever happening again."

The agencies involved admitted on Friday they had failed to protect Anna from abuse which resulted in her death.

Anna died of hypothermia after being forced to lie in a freezing bath

Kouao had brought Anna to London from the Ivory Coast and had claimed the child was her own daughter as she tried to get London councils to house them.

She and Manning had repeatedly beaten the girl, bound her hand and foot, placed her naked in a bath and fed her on scraps of food which she was forced to eat "like a dog". At the time of her death, Anna had 128 marks on her emaciated body.

Sentencing the pair on Friday, the judge said lessons had to be learned "about the failure of social services and the police".

The NSPCC has called for a comprehensive review of child protection procedures in the UK - it wants a national strategy to cut the number of child deaths, and independent child commissioners to act as a children's "watchdog".

Anna died despite the involvement of three local authorities, police and two hospitals.

We need a national strategy, with a must-do force behind it, which can reach out and protect all children

Mary Marsh
NSPCC director

She was twice taken to hospital with injuries caused by suspected abuse and twice handed back to Kouao and Manning to continue their terror treatment.

Commander Carole Howlett, who leads Scotland Yard's child protection team, accepted a systematic review was needed after a police response which had been "inadequate" and riddled with "failings and short-comings".

Eight officers involved in the case are under internal investigation and the case has been referred to the Police Complaints Authority.

Haringey Council, now placed under "special measures" by Mr Milburn, admitted it had failed her and expressed "deep regret".

On 14 July, 1999 Anna was taken to Central Middlesex Hospital covered in scars and fresh bruises but sent home after a doctor diagnosed scabies.

Carl Manning beat Anna with a bike chain

Ten days later she was taken to the North Middlesex hospital with a scalded scalp.

Although police and social services interviewed her carers, they sent Anna home after deciding the injuries were probably accidental, and did not make a follow-up visit for fear of catching scabies.

In November 1999 Kouao alleged Anna had been sexually abused in the flat, but later dropped the allegation. Social services carried out no investigation.

Detectives are also trying to trace two other children who may have been handed to Kouao so that she could bring them to Europe from the Ivory Coast.