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Horror 'could not have been foreseen'

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A 10-month-old girl's death at the hands of her mother's boyfriend could not have been "predicted or prevented," according to a report.

A review into the death of Taliqa Fields in Leicester in July last year said that although social workers, police officers and other officials were aware of the family being in difficulty, they could not have foreseen the tragedy.

Taliqa's mother's partner, Louis Burdett, was found guilty earlier this month of murdering the child while babysitting at her home in Drummond Walk, off Abbey Lane.

He was jailed for a minimum of 13 years.

Burdett had been living with the family for only a short time and had no criminal record or history of domestic violence.

The review, which examined public authorities' involvement with the family in the period leading to the child's death, was published yesterday by the Leicester Safeguarding Children's Board.

David Jones, chairman of the board, said: "Taliqa died at the hands of a person in whose care she had been entrusted.

"There were no signs of danger in relation to the mother's partner, who had only been in the household for five weeks prior to the murder.

"There was no record of previous convictions against him, no reports by other women of domestic violence, and family members had not reported any concerns to the agencies."

Leicester Crown Court heard in February that Burdett, of Aikman Avenue, New Parks, was babysitting Taliqa when he launched his attack after she interrupted his computer game.

The court heard he snapped within minutes of his partner Zoe Harman telling him she was going to McDonalds with an ex-boyfriend.

Medical evidence presented during his trial suggested he shook her, causing her head to strike something hard, and that he broke her collarbone by grabbing or swinging her by her arm.

Horror 'could not have been foreseen'


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