Daily View: Lessons learnt from Edlington torture case
The case of two brothers torturing two young boys in Edlington, South Yorkshire, is a matter of discussion for columnists. They consider the case for and against revealing the identity of the brothers, their parents and the council staff working with them. They also look at the merits of the case cited as evidence of "broken Britain".
The for the full uncensored council report of the case to be published:
"So far, we have had only an executive summary of the investigation into the way the case was handled, with most of the details removed. How are we to know whether the failings are being addressed if we are not told what they were?
This is not about bashing social workers or seeking scapegoats: the people who were really to blame here are the brothers' parents, who so far have remained hidden behind a mask of anonymity."
The all the people who work for Doncaster council to be held accountable for their mistakes:
"As the Mail reveals today, not a single council official, police officer or health worker is named in the Edlington review.
How will these catastrophic mistakes be avoided in future, if those who make them know they can escape censure?"
Child psychologist that the reason children don't get taken away earlier from problem families is a lack of expertise in child protection services:
"The problem that I think we see constantly is that having got the information over a number of years colleagues of all disciplines often don't seem to be able to understand it. They don't seem to be able to analyse the accumulating data that, to some people, might clearly suggest: look, here is a child in real trouble from a very high-risk family who ought to be helped."
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The against the campaign to reveal the identity of the two boys:
"What purpose would be served by revealing the boys' identity? It is true that a little money would be saved by the public purse. But if justice is to be motivated by such economies, why not allow chopping off the hands of thieves?"
the pressure to lift the boys' anonymity focuses on the wrong target:
"It's the parents whose anonymity should be lifted. There was the father who battered their mother in front of his children, who let them watch horror films and pornography that could only have cauterised their childish humanity. And the mother who allowed the children to be abused, who gave them cannabis so that she could have quiet nights in. Let their photographs be all over the papers, let their details be made public for us to marvel at, revolted. They deserve prosecution - and exposure."
In his blog on the David Cameron for bringing up the case as an example of "broken Britain":
"All it does is show how shallow and out of touch Cameron and his team really are. Chasing tabloid headlines for the sake of it."
:
"Politicians are also justified in asking what such an attack tells us about the state of our society.
Those who say that it tells us nothing of any significance merely illustrate the moral blindness in which such monstrous deeds are incubated."
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