I was living in Brighton about 30 years ago when Maria Colwell suffered her sad demise.
It caused indignation on a national scale and the Social Services said they would learn from this but, with the latest case of John Smith and the resultant comments, it appears they have learned nothing.
Fortunately for the public, these cases are not common but how many more children have had close encounters which the various services have failed to detect?
The masses of paperwork they shove around in circles should be severely reduced to allow them to get on with the work of paying closer attention to any visual or verbal signs of mistreatment.
Ever since Maria, there have been too many occasions where the phrase "we will learn from this" has been used when it seems no more than an excuse.
-Gordon P Francis, Cheddington Road, Bournemouth
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