Significant Case Review findings, Child MK, published 21 April 2015

An executive summary of the SCR undertaken on behalf of Fife and Edinburgh Child Protection Committees into the tragic death of Mikaeel Kular was published on Tuesday 21 April. Mikaeel Kular was beaten to death by his mother, who is currently serving a sentence for culpable homicide. The full SCR report will not be published as to do so could identify siblings and other third parties who may be further adversely affected or at risk of harm.

The Review Team, led by Moira McKinnon, concluded there was no evidence, in reviewing this case, that workers could as part of their assessment have had any indication that Mrs Adekoya would cause the death of her child. There was no blame apportioned to social work or the other agencies (health and education) involved with the family; the review team identified that the joint approach by the social worker and health visitor demonstrated good interagency practice. The conclusion of the review team was that: “the circumstances which led to Mikaeel Kular’s death could not have been predicted”.

The family lived in Fife and moved to Edinburgh, where the tragedy took place in January 2014.

A number of actions for future learning and implementation were identified, 13 in total. The first action suggests a “national case transfer protocol for non-child protection cases across local authority areas” which the Scottish Government should consider within the Children and Young People Act 2014.

To view the Executive Summary click here.