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Archived Transcript for 23 November 2001: Pages
101 to 150
101
1 earlier strategy meeting minutes in front of those who
2 were involved in this strategy meeting. Is that right?
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
4 MR GARNHAM: During the course of the meeting, however,
5 Kozinos realised that she had chaired the earlier one.
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was right at the very beginning when
7 I mentioned the scabies.
8 MR GARNHAM: Why did not someone go and fetch the notes from
9 the earlier one, bring them into this meeting?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Rose Kozinos did not ask for the notes.
11 MR GARNHAM: Where are they kept in relation to where this
12 meeting was?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Victoria's case file was in the Duty
14 room.
15 MR GARNHAM: How far is that from where you were holding
16 this meeting?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Next door.
18 MR GARNHAM: So any of you could have just got up and walked
19 a few yards to get this file?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
21 MR GARNHAM: Why did you not go and get it?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Because it was not asked. I had full
23 knowledge of this case in my head. I had written the
24 strategy meeting -- I had started to write the strategy
25 meeting form which was a procedure. If you look at the
102
1 Duty Investigation and Assessment Procedure, my duties
2 were to fill out the strategy meeting form as fully as
3 possible and then pass it on to the chair.
4 MR GARNHAM: You had not been at the strategy meeting back
5 in July. I think the only one who had was Rose Kozinos.
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, and Constable Jones.
7 MR GARNHAM: But the purpose of strategy meetings is to
8 share information, is it not?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It is.
10 MR GARNHAM: To make sure that you have a comprehensive view
11 of the way this child's case is being looked after?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
13 MR GARNHAM: Do you not need the minutes from the previous
14 meeting in case the two who are there do not have
15 complete recall?
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That would be a good idea but I ...
17 MR GARNHAM: But nobody suggested it.
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Nobody suggested it.
19 MR GARNHAM: Rose Kozinos says, paragraph 24 of her
20 statement, that you and Karen Johns said at this meeting
21 that the investigation agreed at the July strategy
22 meeting had been completed. Did you say that?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I said that I had carried out an initial
24 Section 47 investigation and that the concerns did not
25 substantiate the cause for that Section 47
103
1 investigation.
2 MR GARNHAM: So the answer to the question is yes really?
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes, sorry.
4 MR GARNHAM: That is all right. I understand that you want
5 to give a full answer. Kozinos also says that you told
6 her during the course of that meeting that there were no
7 concerns about the mother. True?
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I had no concerns with regard to Kouao
9 until that first -- I had held Kouao in a high regard up
10 until 1st November, yes.
11 MR GARNHAM: For the moment I want to know what you told the
12 meeting and you did tell the meeting that?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did tell the meeting that.
14 MR GARNHAM: That Kouao's explanation was believable?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: With regards to?
16 MR GARNHAM: Everything that had happened generally, that
17 you regarded Kouao as a credible witness?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Absolutely, that was my feeling.
19 MR GARNHAM: That the case was now only open for family
20 support?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That was my understanding.
22 MR GARNHAM: And that is what you said in the meeting?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is what I said.
24 MR GARNHAM: That there were no child protection concerns?
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Up until 1st November?
104
1 MR GARNHAM: Yes.
2 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
3 MR GARNHAM: And that is what you said to the meeting?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is what I said to the meeting.
5 MR GARNHAM: And that you thought Victoria's allegations on
6 this occasion were vague and rehearsed?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No, I did not say that. Because they
8 were not vague and Victoria did not actually make -- she
9 started to disclose, she did not make a full disclosure
10 but the disclosure sounded rehearsed.
11 MR GARNHAM: In general terms what was the feeling of the
12 meeting about this sex allegation?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: The second strategy meeting did not
14 believe the allegations of sexual abuse.
15 MR GARNHAM: You thought presumably that Victoria was then
16 safe with the Kimbidimas at that time?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
18 MR GARNHAM: You had been away at a training course but do
19 you know whether any checks had been made that she was
20 still there?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I have no idea.
22 MR GARNHAM: When did you envisage the investigation being
23 completed?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I remember -- no time scales were
25 discussed in the strategy meeting and no urgency was
105
1 communicated to me with regards to completing those
2 recommendations.
3 MR GARNHAM: Karen Jones told us during the course of her
4 evidence that it was known to the meeting, if I can put
5 it that way by 5th November that Victoria and Kouao were
6 no longer living with the Kimbidimas. Is that right?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: My understanding on 5th November was
8 that Kouao and Victoria were at the Kimbidimas because
9 Rose Kozinos had informed me that they were.
10 MR GARNHAM: Sir, I am about to move on to the next topic.
11 I was asked by Miss Arthurworrey's counsel whether you
12 would consider giving her another break after 45 minutes
13 or an hour. We have now gone rather more than that.
14 Two possibilities, sir. Either we could take an early
15 lunch break or we could have another short break. Given
16 that we are only sitting until 3 o'clock it may be you
17 would favour taking the lunch break now.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: I am quite content with that suggestion
19 Mr Garnham. I think it would be as well then if we made
20 sure we were back here at a quarter to one. We will
21 rise until a quarter to one.
22 (12.05 pm)
23 (The short adjournment)
24 (12.45 pm)
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr Garnham.
106
1 MR GARNHAM: Miss Arthurworrey.
2 Miss Arthurworrey, before we resume where we got to,
3 I am not going to even attempt to weave seamlessly into
4 my questioning two points put to me by one of the
5 interested parties, but nevertheless it is necessary for
6 me to ask you.
7 You remember I asked you about speaking to
8 Barry Almedia.
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
10 MR GARNHAM: And asked you whether you had had any
11 involvement with a referral to the Moira Close Centre.
12 Did you speak to Barry Almedia at any time during the
13 period with which we are dealing, particularly after
14 28th October, telling him that Kouao was planning to go
15 back to France?
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No, I did not.
17 MR GARNHAM: You made mention of the fact that
18 Barry Almedia's notes of his contact with the file of
19 4th August were put into the file later. Do you know
20 when?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I cannot recollect, no.
22 MR GARNHAM: Thank you very much.
23 Now we will carry on if we may where we got to.
24 Up until the time when Kouao retracted the
25 allegation of sexual abuse, how did you regard Kouao?
107
1 What was your assessment of her as a person?
2 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Up until the 1st November I had held
3 Kouao in high regard.
4 MR GARNHAM: And there had been nothing that had led you to
5 doubt her decency as a human being?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No there was not.
7 MR GARNHAM: Did you regard her as Victoria's mother?
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did.
9 MR GARNHAM: Any reason for thinking she might not be?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There was no reason until Rose Kozinos
11 said in the second strategy meeting -- I think I was
12 talking about her manner when she was telling me about
13 the allegations of sexual abuse and Rose Kozinos went,
14 "Ah, we need to get proof that the child is hers" and
15 that is where that came from.
16 MR GARNHAM: That was the first moment you thought about
17 that?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That was the first moment.
19 MR GARNHAM: What was your view of Kouao after the sex abuse
20 allegation had been retracted?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I thought the whole circumstances on the
22 1st November I had found very bizarre. I thought that
23 when the allegation was retracted I believed that Kouao
24 had -- I believe that Kouao was trying to obtain local
25 authority housing through the wrong methods.
108
1 MR GARNHAM: Was that a view that appeared to be generally
2 reached by those at the strategy meeting?
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I believe so, yes.
4 MR GARNHAM: The reality was, Miss Arthurworrey, that either
5 Kouao was not protecting Victoria from abuse, if the
6 abuse was true, or she was allowing her to be used as
7 a pawn in a game to try and get housing. Is that right?
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
9 MR GARNHAM: And you favoured the second of those two?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did favour the second of those two.
11 MR GARNHAM: But you cannot, can you, make an assumption
12 that the second of those two is right, at that stage,
13 5th November?
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No. We needed to do an assessment to
15 find out why the allegation had been made and then
16 retracted.
17 MR GARNHAM: Which might include a decision as to whether or
18 not there was truth in the original allegation?
19 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
20 MR GARNHAM: Would you have a look at volume 24, please,
21 page 44. This is Haringey's CP Guidelines and deals
22 with initial investigations and risk assessments for sex
23 abuse cases; yes?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
25 MR GARNHAM: Go over to 45, please. The second bullet
109
1 point:
2 "Where a child allegation to a professional person
3 indicates that abuse has taken place or is
4 occurring~...", which was the position we had reached
5 during the course of your first brief conversation with
6 Victoria, yes?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
8 MR GARNHAM: "... a provisional assumption should be that it
9 is a high probability that abuse has taken place."
10 Yes?
11 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I can read that, yes.
12 MR GARNHAM: Was that the way you approached this case?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No it was not.
14 MR GARNHAM: Why not?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Because I was not familiar with these
16 procedures.
17 MR GARNHAM: If you had been familiar with these procedures
18 or if others had drawn them to your attention, your
19 approach would have been somewhat different, would it?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It would have been, yes, following these
21 procedures.
22 MR GARNHAM: Following this you have to work on
23 a presumption that the little girl is speaking the truth
24 until you have satisfied yourself that that is not the
25 case?
110
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
2 MR GARNHAM: Volume 6 again, please, page 77. The minutes
3 of the strategy meeting of 5th November. 15 items of
4 work listed. Yes?
5 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
6 MR GARNHAM: Question 5.2 at the bottom asks:
7 "Who will undertake the work?"
8 There is no annotation beside that.
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No.
10 MR GARNHAM: This is not your work I know, but there should
11 be an indication in that box or somewhere else as to who
12 should undertake each task, should there not?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There should be, yes.
14 MR GARNHAM: So if we do not see it in 5.2 we should see set
15 against each of the 15 points an indication of whose job
16 it was?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
18 MR GARNHAM: But it is your job as the allocated social
19 worker to see that they are all done?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
21 MR GARNHAM: You set out your views on this in paragraph 205
22 of your statement and you work through and tell us which
23 ones you think apply to you?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
25 MR GARNHAM: My reading of your analysis suggests that it
111
1 does not cover either item 6 "Assessment of neglect" or
2 item 10 "Complete medical check". Do I have that wrong?
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: (Pause). No, you have not got it
4 wrong, it was my responsibility to complete those two.
5 MR GARNHAM: It probably does not much matter whether your
6 statement is not comprehensive in the sense it does not
7 cover all the points, but would you agree it was your
8 job to ensure that those two, 6 and 10, were done?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Absolutely, yes.
10 MR GARNHAM: And that is not just a checking of others job,
11 that is a you primary responsibility job?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is my primary responsibility, yes.
13 MR GARNHAM: In November, how did you propose to deal with
14 those?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I proposed to deal with those by
16 offering Kouao an appointment to carry out this
17 assessment.
18 MR GARNHAM: An appointment with Kouao would suffice, would
19 it, to enable to you do a full assessment on the child
20 regarding neglect?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: At the time I had arranged my first
22 office visit with Kouao. My intention for that meeting
23 was to first of all discuss the strategy meeting,
24 discuss the outcome of the strategy meeting and make
25 arrangements for an assessment to take place, as well as
112
1 reviewing the placement at the Kimbidimas.
2 MR GARNHAM: Yes. How is the process going to be completed;
3 how is the assessment process going to be completed?
4 How were you planning to draw together the information
5 you have so as to comply with the task of producing
6 a full assessment?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I would have consulted with a manager
8 with regard to that point but I would have had to use
9 the initial assessment pack, which was what we used in
10 the Duty Investigation and Assessment Team.
11 MR GARNHAM: Is that what you use for full assessment as
12 well as an initial assessments? Is there not another
13 pack for a full assessment?
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No there was not.
15 MR GARNHAM: Item 10, "Complete medical check," how were you
16 going to complete the medical check?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I would have had to have sought further
18 advice with regards to that point.
19 MR GARNHAM: Which you did not seek at the time?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Which I did not seek at the time.
21 MR GARNHAM: These things do not have to be done
22 sequentially, do they? There is no reason why you could
23 not have started getting on with all of them straight
24 away?
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: But I knew that Victoria -- I am not
113
1 really sure what complete check regarding medical on
2 Anna --
3 MR GARNHAM: She has been alleged to have been the victim of
4 sexual abuse. Does that not in itself suggest that you
5 need a medical examination of her?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: But that is not what that point says, it
7 says, "Complete check regarding..."
8 MR GARNHAM: I see, so in other words not regarding the
9 complete check but complete the check?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I believe so, that is my understanding.
11 MR GARNHAM: So what did you think that meant? What check
12 was part way done and needed completing?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I really do not know because I knew that
14 Victoria -- okay, I am going to start again. When
15 Rose Kozinos made that point I had been talking about
16 Dr Rossiter's concerns that she had come to me
17 expressing concern with regards to Victoria's case and
18 Rose Kozinos just put that point down.
19 MR GARNHAM: And you did not check to see what it meant,
20 what was required?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: At the time I did not, no.
22 MR GARNHAM: And you should have done?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I should have done, yes.
24 MR GARNHAM: In fact, given that this is a case involving
25 sexual abuse, should you not have ensured that a doctor
114
1 was invited to the strategy meeting? Is that not what
2 "Working Together" requires; the Department of Health
3 publication?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: "Working Together" requires agencies who
5 are most involved in a child's life to report concerns
6 to social services.
7 MR GARNHAM: You do not understand it is to require the
8 attendance of a medical member to a strategy meeting
9 following a sex abuse allegation? And nobody told you
10 to do that?
11 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Nobody told me to do that.
12 MR GARNHAM: And you do not understand it to be
13 a requirement?
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was not my understanding at the time,
15 no.
16 MR GARNHAM: Can I ask you about arrangements for case
17 conferences, please, because if we go over the page to
18 79, question 15 asks:
19 "Is a child protection conference required?
20 "Answer: Yes".
21 Whose job was it to organise that?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It would have been my responsibility,
23 once the decision to convene a case conference had been
24 made to start convening the case conference.
25 MR GARNHAM: Well a decision has been made, had it not?
115
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: My understanding at the time of this
2 strategy meeting was that we needed to carry out an
3 assessment, that I would discuss my findings with my
4 team manager, and a decision as to whether a case
5 conference would be convened would be taken after that.
6 MR GARNHAM: So this is wrong when it says "yes" in answer
7 to the question: "Is a child protection conference
8 required"?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: All I can say is that the case
10 conference was not the focal point of discussion in that
11 strategy meeting. Rose Kozinos was just working through
12 the form. I would have expected, if I were to call
13 a case conference immediately, I would have expected
14 that to have been under item 1 of work to be undertaken.
15 MR GARNHAM: What does it matter which place it is on the
16 list? It is there, is it not? Are you not required to
17 do it regardless?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There is a clear procedure in Haringey
19 for convening case conferences. Once a decision had
20 been made to convene a case conference, I, as a social
21 worker, would be responsible for making a referral to
22 the administrators in Ann Graham's team. She was the
23 manager of the child protection adviser. They are not
24 based in North Tottenham. I would have had to make
25 a referral to the administrators and I would have had to
116
1 say to them, "I want to convene a case conference".
2 I would have had to give them the dates because then it
3 is their responsibility to actually book the case
4 conference, and I would have had to have given them
5 a list of all those people that we were thinking of
6 inviting.
7 Now, on this strategy meeting recommendation there
8 was no discussions regarding time scales, and time
9 scales are very crucial when convening a case
10 conference. Also, I would not have known who to have
11 invited to this case conference, which professionals
12 would have been needed.
13 MR GARNHAM: This case cried out for a case conference, did
14 it not?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I think this case cried out for a case
16 conference at the beginning, and that was a mistake.
17 MR GARNHAM: You needed to complete the Section 47
18 investigation and you needed to set up a case conference
19 and neither of those two things were done.
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Neither of those two things were done.
21 MR GARNHAM: They should have been done urgently, should
22 they not?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes, it was wholly unacceptable that
24 this was left and I did not make arrangements to see
25 Kouao until 19th November, wholly unacceptable, and
117
1 I deeply regret that.
2 MR GARNHAM: The reality is that there was no social work
3 conclusion reached after this, was there? It just went
4 into drift.
5 MISS ARTHURWORREY: The case did unfortunately go into
6 drift.
7 MR GARNHAM: Had there been a case conference organised, it
8 would have brought to it all the relevant agencies?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
10 MR GARNHAM: Rossiter would have been invited in all
11 probability to express her views?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: She would have been, because she was
13 a key professional who had been involved in Victoria's
14 life at that time.
15 MR GARNHAM: Petra Kitchman would have been invited or
16 perhaps asked to chair it?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I do not know who would have chaired the
18 case conference --
19 MR GARNHAM: But should have been there?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I think she would have been there.
21 I would have had to have had a discussion with my
22 manager as to who were the relevant professionals.
23 MR GARNHAM: It certainly would have included those two and
24 it would have included Jones and it would have included
25 yourself.
118
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
2 MR GARNHAM: In that conference, a way forward for
3 Victoria's care would have been decided and matters like
4 schooling would have been decided.
5 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Absolutely, yes.
6 MR GARNHAM: Did you ever speak to the Legal Department
7 about this case?
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No, I did not, regrettably.
9 MR GARNHAM: You should have done?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: At the time of the second strategy
11 meeting I did not think about discussing this case with
12 Legal. My intention was to carry out the assessment,
13 discuss the case with my manager and then I may have
14 been advised to discuss the case with Legal. At the
15 time of the second strategy meeting we were not
16 discussing initiating care proceedings, taking out an
17 order in respect of Victoria, we were discussing welfare
18 issues.
19 MR GARNHAM: What then does item 7 on page 77 mean?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Discuss case with Legal.
21 MR GARNHAM: What does that mean you should do?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It means to discuss case with Legal, but
23 I felt that I did not have enough information at that
24 time to discuss the case with Legal. The last time
25 I had seen Victoria she presented as happy, she
119
1 presented as relaxed. She did not present, in my
2 opinion, as a child who had been sexually abused.
3 MR GARNHAM: It is a dangerous assumption, is it not?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It is a very dangerous assumption.
5 MR GARNHAM: And one you should not have made?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: And one I should not have made.
7 MR GARNHAM: Can I go on to ask you about the supervisions
8 that you had following this? There were two during the
9 course of the next two months I think, the first one
10 with Angella Mairs on 15th November and the second which
11 eventually took place with Rose Kozinos on 23rd
12 December.
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
14 MR GARNHAM: May I ask you about the first, that is
15 15th November with Angella Mairs. One of the first
16 issues you discussed was time off in lieu. You had run
17 up a lot of time due to you?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
19 MR GARNHAM: There then followed the supervision which
20 included Victoria's case?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
22 MR GARNHAM: And you tell us you spoke about Victoria's case
23 for five or ten minutes?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I gave Angella Mairs, because
25 Angella Mairs, this was the first time Angella Mairs was
120
1 supervising me. I did not know what knowledge she had
2 of Victoria's case. I had never discussed Victoria's
3 case with her, so I needed to start from the beginning
4 of my involvement with Victoria and I brought her
5 up-to-date, up until the events of 1st November.
6 MR GARNHAM: Up until and including the events of
7 1st November?
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Up until and including the events --
9 sorry, and the strategy meeting. I informed her that
10 the strategy meeting had taken place on 5th November.
11 MR GARNHAM: You know that she disputes that?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes I do.
13 MR GARNHAM: Did you tell her the details of the sex abuse
14 allegation?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did specifically talk to Angella about
16 the details of the sexual abuse allegation.
17 MR GARNHAM: What was her response?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There was no response.
19 MR GARNHAM: She did not react to hearing the account of
20 Victoria's alleged sex abuse --
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Not --
22 MR GARNHAM: -- and a retraction?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Not at that time. She did make comment
24 of that after Victoria died.
25 MR GARNHAM: But not during the supervision.
121
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Not during the supervision.
2 MR GARNHAM: You mentioned one particular reaction that
3 Miss Mairs had to your discussion and I think it is
4 something that may shed some light on the conversation
5 the two of you had. You say in paragraph 212 of your
6 statement that she had a particular response to the
7 suggestion about immigration checks.
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
9 MR GARNHAM: Tell us about that, please.
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: When I was discussing Victoria's case
11 I had her file on my knee and I had the case open at the
12 strategy meeting recommendations. The first item of the
13 strategy meeting recommendations was for the Police
14 Child Protection Team to contact the Immigration, to
15 contact Immigration regarding status. Angella Mairs was
16 of the view that the department should not be initiating
17 immigration checks on our clients.
18 MR GARNHAM: It is right to say that immigration checks was
19 one of the things you were following from the second
20 strategy meeting?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
22 MR GARNHAM: But it was also one of the things you were
23 following from the first strategy meeting, was it not?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I would need to have a look at the
25 minutes of the first strategy meeting.
122
1 MR GARNHAM: Page 92 in volume 6, please. Item 18.
2 Reference there to the police completing immigration
3 checks.
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I do see that.
5 MR GARNHAM: So the fact that Angella Mairs reacted to the
6 suggestion about immigration correlates to the first
7 strategy meeting, not the second.
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I had made no reference to the actual
9 recommendations of the first strategy meeting, although
10 I had informed Angella Mairs there had been a strategy
11 meeting in July. I did not discuss the specific
12 recommendations.
13 MR GARNHAM: Can we look at the notes of this supervision at
14 page 259, please. "Supervision Decisions" I think it is
15 headed, and reference to the case name. One, can you
16 read the note for us please.
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: "Child protection investigation took
18 place. No further concerns".
19 MR GARNHAM: What do you understand that to be a reference
20 to?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That was a reference to the initial
22 investigation that took place in July.
23 MR GARNHAM: Thank you. The second one, "Refer to EWO ...",
24 is that Education Welfare Officer?
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is.
123
1 MR GARNHAM: "... re school". That was advice to you from
2 Mairs, was it?
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was after I discussed the
4 recommendations of the second strategy meeting and
5 I informed her that Victoria had not been attending
6 school.
7 MR GARNHAM: That could have been made following
8 a discussion that made no reference to the second
9 strategy meeting?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I could have done that, yes.
11 MR GARNHAM: I am sorry, you misunderstand my question.
12 This note could have been made by Mairs without her
13 being aware of the second strategy meeting because on
14 any view this case needed to be referred to the EWO.
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It is my understanding that issues of
16 Victoria's schooling were not addressed specifically in
17 the first strategy meeting.
18 MR GARNHAM: I am sure that is right but the point is
19 Victoria had still not been in school and here we were
20 in November.
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It could have been, yes, but it was not.
22 MR GARNHAM: "Permission to interview child on her own".
23 How did that arise? That is as a point of action
24 for you?
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was procedure in the department that
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1 a Section 47 investigation would include an interview
2 with the parent. Following that, we would need to get
3 permission to interview Victoria by herself.
4 MR GARNHAM: In relation to what event?
5 MISS ARTHURWORREY: In relation to the sexual abuse
6 allegations.
7 MR GARNHAM: "Discuss bed wetting with..." I cannot read
8 the next squiggle.
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It actually says GP.
10 MR GARNHAM: "... with GP".
11 Is that talking about something that has happened or
12 something you should do?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I informed Angella Mairs that there had
14 been concerns regarding Victoria's bed wetting and
15 I thought that that was due to her social circumstances.
16 MR GARNHAM: So not relevant to the second meeting.
17 "Refer to Family Centre, bereavement counselling".
18 Again, not indicative of a reference to either
19 strategy meeting?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Just basic.
21 MR GARNHAM: Yes.
22 "6. Closing summary".
23 What does that mean?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It means for me to complete a closing
25 summary.
125
1 MR GARNHAM: This is a meeting that took place on
2 15th November, ten days after the second strategy
3 meeting. How is it that there is discussion about
4 closing? You have not done anything in respect of the
5 second strategy meeting.
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Unfortunately in Haringey there was an
7 emphasis on closing cases and if you were to look at
8 other supervision notes from Angella Mairs you would see
9 that "Closing Summary" appears on most of them. It
10 was --
11 MR GARNHAM: Let me be clear. You are saying you were
12 instructed by Angella Mairs to close a case, despite the
13 fact that Angella Mairs knew only ten days earlier there
14 had been a strategy meeting into a sex abuse allegation?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
16 MR GARNHAM: "Complete care plan".
17 What is that a reference to?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It is a reference to me completing a
19 care plan, and again that is something that appears time
20 and time again and Angella Mairs --
21 MR GARNHAM: That presumably is a reference, is it, to the
22 care plan you had begun in September?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I think we would have had to have
24 formulated a second care plan in relation to the
25 allegations to sexual abuse. That care plan -- the
126
1 initial care plan was void.
2 MR GARNHAM: "Complete decisions of a strategy meeting".
3 Which strategy meeting?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I was of the understanding that it was
5 the second strategy meeting.
6 MR GARNHAM: "Work to be completed by 17th December" refers
7 to the above?
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
9 MR GARNHAM: No mention in that summary of your supervision
10 of any sex abuse allegation.
11 MISS ARTHURWORREY: And I do not know why Angella Mairs did
12 not make reference. I specifically spoke to her about
13 the circumstances of the 1st November and the
14 retraction.
15 MR GARNHAM: Rose Kozinos says in paragraph 29 of her
16 statement that her understanding of the situation was
17 that Mairs told you to close the case because you, in
18 turn, had told Mairs that the case had been fully
19 investigated and that there were no child protection
20 concerns. Is that right?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is not right.
22 MR GARNHAM: Tell me, was Ms Mairs making notes as she
23 conducted the supervision with you on 15th November?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes. It was as it always is in
25 Haringey. I gave Angella Mairs an update of the case
127
1 and whilst I was speaking she was writing down these
2 actions.
3 MR GARNHAM: Is it not a little surprising then, if you had
4 been talking about the sex abuse allegation, that she
5 does not write down anything in relation to that
6 expressly?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It is surprising, yes.
8 MR GARNHAM: Did you show her the minutes of the strategy
9 meeting of 5th November?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I had the minutes of the strategy
11 meeting on my lap, in Victoria's file, and I was going
12 through the recommendations. Angella Mairs did not ask
13 to see the strategy meeting recommendations.
14 MR GARNHAM: You say this discussion lasted for five or ten
15 minutes.
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
17 MR GARNHAM: Did you have time in that short period to go
18 through all the matters that you discuss in the nine
19 paragraphs of your statement devoted to this,
20 paragraphs 211 to 219? Quite a lot to get through in
21 five or ten minutes.
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I had full knowledge of Victoria's case
23 in my head so I was able to relay the information quite
24 quickly to her and that is how supervision was.
25 MR GARNHAM: Can I ask you to look at paragraph 218 of your
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1 statement:
2 "Angella told me" -- is it "Angela" or "Angella"?
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Angella.
4 MR GARNHAM: "Angella told me that I was to complete the
5 decisions of the Strategy Meeting by 17th December 1999.
6 This meant the second Strategy Meeting."
7 You mean by that "I understood her to be referring
8 to the second strategy meeting", do you?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Absolutely, yes.
10 MR GARNHAM: And did completing those tasks by the 17th seem
11 a reasonable prospect to you?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It did, yes.
13 MR GARNHAM: That gave you just over a month.
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It did, yes.
15 MR GARNHAM: It is a fairly cracking pace you were going to
16 have to set.
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: We always worked at a fairly cracking
18 pace in North Tottenham.
19 MR GARNHAM: So presumably you got on with those tasks
20 straight away to work through them one by one, did you?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I plan my work to mirror key short-term
22 and long-term objectives and prioritise those objectives
23 to match their urgency. Up until that supervision
24 session I had not been given any time scales with
25 regards to the completion of the strategy meeting, the
129
1 second strategy meeting recommendations. I was looking
2 at the date of the 17th December and I planned my work
3 accordingly.
4 MR GARNHAM: To get all the tasks done from the second
5 strategy meeting by that date?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That was my understanding at the time,
7 yes.
8 MR GARNHAM: How far did you get by the 17th December?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I had not had any contact with Kouao or
10 Victoria, although I had tried -- I tried to begin to
11 make checks with the French Consulate. That is the only
12 thing that I did do, unfortunately.
13 MR GARNHAM: You see, the difficulty I have with what you
14 have said so far is this: if it is right that you told
15 Mairs about the November strategy meeting and she set
16 you this timetable of doing all those tasks for which
17 you were responsible by 17th December, it is surprising
18 that by 17th December you have got so little done.
19 MISS ARTHURWORREY: In order to answer that question I would
20 need to refer to you my work schedule.
21 MR GARNHAM: Which we do not have and which would show you
22 are busy, would it?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I am sure I did disclose a copy of my
24 work schedule to this Inquiry.
25 MR GARNHAM: There are a fair few documents behind me and
130
1 I may have missed it but that is something that will be
2 brought to my attention if it is there. But that is
3 your point?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is the point I am making.
5 MR GARNHAM: So presumably you went back to your manager or
6 to Mairs and said, "You know you said I have to get this
7 lot done by 17th December, well with the amount of work
8 I have on my plate there is no chance", did you?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No, because I had looked in my diary and
10 I know the week beginning the 8th November, which was
11 after the strategy meeting took place on the 5th, I had
12 Duty and training commitments, so I was away from my
13 caseload. I had been authorised -- I would need to look
14 in my work schedule, sorry.
15 MR GARNHAM: It may be your counsel can take you through
16 that when she asks you some questions.
17 Are you confident that you were told by
18 Angella Mairs to close down Victoria's case?
19 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I am absolutely confident.
20 MR GARNHAM: Was it in those terms or was it more along the
21 lines of, "Close it down after the appropriate
22 assessments have been completed"?
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Angella Mairs just wrote "closing
24 summary".
25 MR GARNHAM: Thank you. Then your next supervision is on
131
1 14th December. Before that there are a number of events
2 I am going to ask you about.
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Okay.
4 MR GARNHAM: Is there something else you wanted to say or
5 was that about those?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It is about those.
7 MR GARNHAM: I want to make sure we have the timetable in
8 our mind. We have the supervision with Mairs on the
9 15th November?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
11 MR GARNHAM: The next one you are going to have is one month
12 later with Rose Kozinos on 14th December?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
14 MR GARNHAM: Between those two, on 19th November you wrote
15 to Kouao offering her an office appointment for
16 1st December?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
18 MR GARNHAM: We have that at page 270 in volume 6. Do you
19 have that page?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I have.
21 MR GARNHAM: This is a point you deal with in your statement
22 but you have addressed it to Kouao at Somerset Gardens.
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did. That was a mistake.
24 MR GARNHAM: Because?
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Because the week beginning -- that week
132
1 when I wrote that letter I knew that I was going away on
2 TOIL, I wrote the letter in some haste and I did not
3 realise that I had put the wrong address until Kouao did
4 not turn up to the office visit on 1st December.
5 MR GARNHAM: Why was it the wrong address?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Because my understanding was that she
7 was staying with the Kimbidimas.
8 MR GARNHAM: There had not been indication to you before
9 that she had already gone back?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There was not.
11 MR GARNHAM: This is not written to that address because you
12 did in fact know that Victoria and Kouao were back at
13 Manning's flat?
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: All I can say is that when she did not
15 turn up for that office appointment I looked through the
16 file and I saw that I had written 267 Somerset Gardens,
17 so there was a possibility that she had not got that
18 letter, so then I tried to phone her.
19 MR GARNHAM: You phoned her on her mobile, left a message?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Can I look at my contacts?
21 MR GARNHAM: Yes.
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I believe so, yes, and I would like to
23 say although it does only say that I phoned Kouao once,
24 I do remember repeatedly trying the number when she did
25 not turn up.
133
1 MR GARNHAM: You got no response, either to the appointment
2 you made or to the phone calls. How did you take the
3 matter forward after that?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I do remember discussing with Rose and
5 I have been able to focus my thoughts. Kouao did not
6 turn up to the office visit on Wednesday the 1st. At
7 the time Rose was not around because Rose was on Duty.
8 We all had set Duty weeks that we had to do. I think
9 mine was every third week and Rose always did her Duty
10 stint before me. So she was not around. Either on the
11 Thursday or the Friday of that week Rose came to me and
12 that is when we arranged the supervision session for the
13 14th and I specifically remember telling Rose and my
14 words were, "That woman did not turn up for her office
15 appointment". Rose just --
16 MR GARNHAM: Did she know which particular woman you were
17 referring to?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Absolutely.
19 MR GARNHAM: Why?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Because Kouao's presence in the office,
21 certainly on the Monday -- well, you just could not
22 forget that -- anybody who had been involved in that
23 interview could not forget Kouao because of her manner.
24 MR GARNHAM: On 15th December you then phoned Carl Manning.
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That was actually on 13th December. It
134
1 has been recorded wrongly.
2 MR GARNHAM: You are quite right and you have corrected
3 that, have you not?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: (Nods).
5 MR GARNHAM: Why the delay? You have attempted to contact
6 Kouao, she does not turn up for the appointment, you
7 phone her, why is it only on the 13th December that you
8 try Manning?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: On 1st of December when Kouao did not
10 turn up for office appointment regrettably I did not see
11 it as suspicious. At the beginning of December I really
12 thought when she did not turn up I thought that she may
13 have moved on, particularly as that is what we were
14 discussing the last time I went to 267 Somerset Gardens
15 on 28th October.
16 MR GARNHAM: Another dangerous assumption Miss Arthurworrey.
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Absolutely.
18 MR GARNHAM: And one you should not have made.
19 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I should not have made.
20 MR GARNHAM: Why phone Manning, given that he was the person
21 who might have abused Victoria sexually?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I wanted to know whether he knew of
23 Kouao's whereabouts and he seemed the most sensible
24 person to phone.
25 MR GARNHAM: What about the Kimbidimas?
135
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I contacted the Kimbidimas on the 13th
2 after I contacted Manning and I was told they had
3 returned to Manning's.
4 MR GARNHAM: Were you told when they returned?
5 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did not ask when and I was not told.
6 MR GARNHAM: That was the first time you knew about that?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That was the first time.
8 MR GARNHAM: You had not learned at the time of the strategy
9 meeting as Jones says she knew?
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No.
11 MR GARNHAM: Faced with that situation, not really knowing
12 where Victoria and Kouao were, what did you do?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: As I said, after the 1st December,
14 either on the 2nd or the 3rd I spoke to Rose and I said
15 that Kouao had not turned up to the office for the
16 appointment. Rose just said to me, "Keep trying and we
17 will discuss it in supervision".
18 MR GARNHAM: Did you speak to Legal about the powers you
19 might have to try and find her?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: As I said, I did not think that the
21 reason I had not seen Victoria was because Kouao was
22 concealing her from the authorities.
23 MR GARNHAM: Did you speak to the police about trying to
24 find Victoria?
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I spoke to Constable Jones on the
136
1 10th December to say that I had not had any contact with
2 Victoria or Kouao.
3 MR GARNHAM: Any suggestions coming out of that conversation
4 about what you might do to try and find this girl?
5 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There were no suggestions.
6 MR GARNHAM: Your attempts to contact Kouao and Victoria in
7 this period display no real sense of urgency, do they?
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: They do not because there was no real
9 sense of urgency communicated to me, either at the
10 strategy meeting and after the 1st December when Kouao
11 did not turn up for the office appointment.
12 MR GARNHAM: You say that the inability, your inability to
13 locate Kouao and Victoria effectively prevented you from
14 taking this investigation any further forward.
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Most of the recommendations in the
16 second strategy meeting required me to have contact with
17 the family.
18 MR GARNHAM: Your second supervision of the two we are
19 talking about with Rose Kozinos occurred on
20 14th December, was booked for 14th December. It did not
21 take place because there was industrial action and --
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
23 MR GARNHAM: -- I think you were on strike, were you?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I was.
25 MR GARNHAM: Was Kozinos as well?
137
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: She was.
2 MR GARNHAM: As a result it was rearranged for
3 23rd December.
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was and I can tell you that Rose
5 would have arranged that supervision for the 23rd as
6 soon as we realised that we were going out on strike and
7 I think the problem with the department going out on
8 strike was that a number of dates had been identified
9 and we did not know when. We did not get full
10 confirmation of when we were actually going on strike.
11 It was very unsettled. We realised that we were going
12 on strike and Rose said that we needed to rearrange
13 supervision.
14 MR GARNHAM: Was this a UNISON strike?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was a UNISON strike.
16 MR GARNHAM: Eventually it takes place 23rd December.
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It did.
18 MR GARNHAM: We have the notes at page 258. I had suggested
19 that the previous ones were brief but this one gets the
20 prize, does it not?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
22 MR GARNHAM: Five lines of handwriting.
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
24 MR GARNHAM: "Family have left area, no further contact".
25 Does that mean family have left area and we have had
138
1 no further contact or family have left area, there
2 should not be any further contact?
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I think you would need to ask
4 Rose Kozinos what she meant by that.
5 MR GARNHAM: What was said in your discussion?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I had told Rose Kozinos that I had not
7 had any contact with Victoria and Kouao. I said to her
8 there may be a possibility they have gone back to France
9 because that is what I was discussing. That was our
10 plan of action in October but I did not know where they
11 were. Rose wrote down, "Family have left area, no
12 further contact."
13 MR GARNHAM: "Complete spot visit."
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
15 MR GARNHAM: At that time had you made any spot visits?
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I believe I had made a couple.
17 MR GARNHAM: Daytime, evening, night time?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I really cannot remember. I can only
19 say that when I did make this final spot visit on
20 6th January I remember actually getting inside the
21 premises of Somerset Gardens which is, they are flats
22 and an intercom system -- there is an intercom system
23 that operates and I do remember on 6th January
24 thinking -- as I was ringing the intercom someone was
25 going into 267 and I remember thinking, "Oh good, at
139
1 least I have got in this time", and I was actually
2 knocking on the door of 267 but before that I had not
3 actually got into the premises. So that is how I think
4 I carried out a number of spot visits.
5 MR GARNHAM: "Complete appropriate paperwork", then "NFA".
6 What do you understand that to mean?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: The "complete appropriate paperwork"
8 would be the paperwork associated with closing cases so
9 that would include the closing summary and for me to
10 write a closing and send out a closing letter.
11 MR GARNHAM: NFA?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No further action.
13 MR GARNHAM: "Update Karen Johns". It says Johns, it means
14 Jones.
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It does mean Jones.
16 MR GARNHAM: Does that summary accurately reflect the
17 discussion you had during the course of that
18 supervision?
19 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Again, it was not a two-way discussion,
20 it was myself informing Rose of the situation and then
21 just Rose writing down these actions. There was no
22 discussion.
23 MR GARNHAM: What did you understand you had to do when this
24 supervision had finished?
25 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Complete a spot visit. If I could not
140
1 gain access to the premises then I should close
2 Victoria's case.
3 MR GARNHAM: Did you say to Rose Kozinos during the course
4 of this meeting that the difficulties in locating Kouao
5 and Victoria were preventing you implementing the
6 decisions in the strategy meeting?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I said to Rose that I had not completed
8 any of the recommendations of the strategy meeting.
9 I specifically told her that.
10 MR GARNHAM: Ms Kozinos says in her statement at
11 paragraph 33 that you told her that you felt strongly
12 that the family had left the country and that you were
13 sure that they had done so.
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I was not sure.
15 MR GARNHAM: Did you say it though?
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did not say that, no.
17 MR GARNHAM: She says that you also told her that you had
18 done lots of spot checks. What did you tell her about
19 spot checks?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I would have -- I said that I had
21 completed a couple of spot checks, which is what I had
22 done.
23 MR GARNHAM: Were you concerned about what had happened to
24 Victoria by this stage, or what was happening to
25 Victoria?
141
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I was unsure of her whereabouts and
2 I did not know what was happening. So that was
3 concerning, yes.
4 MR GARNHAM: Sir, can I just have two minutes?
5 THE CHAIRMAN: Sure. (Pause).
6 MR GARNHAM: You tell us in your statement that you paid
7 a spot visit, another spot visit, the third of the three
8 on 6th January.
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct, yes.
10 MR GARNHAM: What prompted that?
11 MISS ARTHURWORREY: This supervision session.
12 MR GARNHAM: So you were acting in response to point 2 when
13 you did that?
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I was.
15 MR GARNHAM: What time of day was that?
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was late evening. I remember it
17 being dark.
18 MR GARNHAM: Did it occur to you it may be worth trying
19 another spot visit at a different time of day?
20 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I believe I had tried spot visits
21 previously at different times before.
22 MR GARNHAM: These visits are not recorded in your notes,
23 are they?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No.
25 MR GARNHAM: Why not?
142
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was something that was overlooked.
2 MR GARNHAM: Any other attempts to find Victoria during
3 December and January?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I knew that Kouao had said she had
5 intended to register Victoria at Bruce Grove Primary
6 School so I made checks there to see whether Victoria
7 had been registered and was attending.
8 MR GARNHAM: That was on 10th January?
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
10 MR GARNHAM: Given the strategy meeting of 5th November, why
11 was it that it was only on 10th January that you chased
12 up with the school? You remember we looked at it
13 earlier, there is a note in the strategy meeting about
14 the need to check the school after it had been written
15 in, "Bruce Grove Primary School".
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I think the recommendations in the
17 strategy meeting said explore issues of schooling
18 because at that point I had informed the strategy
19 meeting that Victoria was not in school. I had pointed
20 that out to Kouao and Kouao had said that she was going
21 to register Victoria at Bruce Grove.
22 MR GARNHAM: Was this the first time you had checked with
23 Bruce Grove whether that had happened?
24 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It was.
25 MR GARNHAM: Why?
143
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Because I had not been applied to do so
2 and it was just something I thought of before I closed
3 Victoria's case.
4 MR GARNHAM: If you are going to explore the issues of
5 schooling, is not the obvious thing to find out if the
6 child is in school by asking the school?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: When Kouao did not turn up to the office
8 visit on 1st December I thought that she had returned to
9 France because that is what she had expressed to me.
10 MR GARNHAM: And that is why you did not chase up with the
11 school?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I was -- I understood the recommendation
13 of the strategy meeting, "explore issues of schooling",
14 was something I needed to discuss with Kouao and
15 Victoria.
16 MR GARNHAM: Why then did you call Bruce Grove Primary
17 School on 10th January?
18 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Because I had not heard from Kouao and
19 Victoria and I just thought I needed to know.
20 MR GARNHAM: But it is an inquiry you could have made much
21 earlier?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I could have done, yes.
23 MR GARNHAM: Given your involvement with the case and given
24 that you knew that this little girl had not been at
25 school since March, it is one you should have made
144
1 earlier?
2 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I should have made -- I could have made
3 that check earlier but as I have said, from the
4 1st December I believed that Kouao and Victoria were on
5 the way to France, which was an assumption that could
6 not be founded and I should not have made that
7 assumption.
8 MR GARNHAM: Even working on the principle that you were
9 making that assumption, the fact that Victoria was not
10 in school must have said a good deal to you about
11 Kouao's mothering skills.
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I have already tried to make the point
13 that the fact that Victoria was not attending school,
14 I did not see that as suspicious from a child protection
15 point of view.
16 MR GARNHAM: In a sense it is indicative of a type of
17 neglect of Victoria, and neglect had been a constant
18 theme through your dealings with Victoria, had it not?
19 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Again, I was looking at the family
20 circumstances as a whole. This was a foreign child in
21 a foreign country of no fixed abode. There are lots of
22 children we have like that on our cases who are not
23 attending school.
24 MR GARNHAM: No. And in respect of all of them you should
25 be asking yourself, "What does this say about their
145
1 parents' ability to cope, their parents' ability to
2 manage life in this country?"
3 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I never got the sense that Kouao was
4 deliberately avoiding schooling for Victoria. Kouao had
5 informed me that it was her intention to enrol Victoria
6 into a school once permanent accommodation had been
7 found.
8 MR GARNHAM: You referred yesterday to a social workers'
9 movement book.
10 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
11 MR GARNHAM: Would the spot checks have been included in
12 that? Was that a book you would use to record your
13 movements?
14 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is a book that I would have
15 recorded my movements. I do not think those spot visits
16 would have been recorded in that book because I believe
17 those spot visits were carried out either before I came
18 to work or on my way home from work.
19 MR GARNHAM: And not put in the notes and would not
20 ordinarily be put in the movement book?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: No.
22 MR GARNHAM: This movement book may be something of interest
23 to us. It is presumably something available at
24 Haringey.
25 MS LAWSON: No, it is already with the Inquiry. They would
146
1 not give it back to us when we asked to look at it.
2 MR GARNHAM: We will try to trace that and see what it says.
3 During the course of January and February you
4 remained with the view that they must have gone, that
5 they left the area?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: They left the area although I did not
7 know where their exact whereabouts were.
8 MR GARNHAM: What was going through your mind at the time?
9 Did you have concerns about Victoria or was the truth
10 that you had come to a conclusion that you were happy
11 with and you were not worried then about Victoria?
12 MISS ARTHURWORREY: The fact remains there were unresolved
13 issues on Victoria's case and that was what was on my
14 mind.
15 MR GARNHAM: What were you doing about that if it was on
16 your mind? Was it prompting to you do anything?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There was nothing -- I did discuss
18 Victoria's case in supervision on 18th January,
19 I believe. That was an informal discussion, no
20 supervision note was taken --
21 MR GARNHAM: That was with Carole Baptiste?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That was with Rose Kozinos and I had
23 informed Rose Kozinos of the outcome of my spot visit
24 and there was no response to that.
25 MR GARNHAM: So you still have these concerns in your mind?
147
1 MISS ARTHURWORREY: There were unresolved issues, as far as
2 I was concerned.
3 MR GARNHAM: Unresolved issues. Because you do not know
4 where Victoria is having done three spot visits, and
5 your managers give you no sensible leads, you just let
6 it be?
7 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I did write to Kouao on 18th February,
8 pointing out that as she had failed to maintain contact
9 with our office and as her whereabouts were unknown, the
10 department would be moving Victoria's case towards
11 closure. I did say to her if she was experiencing any
12 further difficulties she should contact our Duty Team.
13 MR GARNHAM: That is page 283 in this volume. Let us look
14 at that. Is that right?
15 MISS ARTHURWORREY: That is correct.
16 MR GARNHAM: "Dear Marie-Therese, I am writing to inform
17 that as you have failed to maintain contact with this
18 office and your exact whereabouts are unknown, the
19 department will be closing your file.
20 "If you are experiencing any difficulties please do
21 not hesitate to contact our Duty Team on the above
22 number."
23 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Yes.
24 MR GARNHAM: That reads as if you are writing to somebody
25 who has made a simple request for some service rather
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1 than a case in respect of which there had been child
2 protection concerns as recently as November, does it
3 not?
4 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It does.
5 MR GARNHAM: What do you think of this letter?
6 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I had actually approached Rose Kozinos
7 before I wrote this letter because she had asked me to
8 complete the appropriate paperwork. The North Tottenham
9 office had standard closing letters which I felt was not
10 appropriate in Victoria's case, so I went to Rose --
11 because I actually had trouble in formulating this
12 letter. I just did not know how to write it and I went
13 to Rose for advice and assistance. Rose was busy, she
14 was quite dismissive. I came away and I just sat down
15 and thought about it and this is what I came up with.
16 MR GARNHAM: What do you think about it now?
17 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Well, it is a bit -- it is very basic.
18 MR GARNHAM: It does not suggest to the reader, does it,
19 that this is a case where social services have been
20 concerned about alleged sexual abuse of a child?
21 MISS ARTHURWORREY: But the second strategy meeting did not
22 believe that Victoria had been sexually abused.
23 MR GARNHAM: Yes, but the second strategy meeting also
24 directed investigations to take place so that it could
25 be satisfied about that and those had not happened and
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1 you were closing the file with this two-line letter.
2 MISS ARTHURWORREY: All I can say is that at every step of
3 the way I did consult with a senior practitioner and
4 I took the steps that she advised.
5 MR GARNHAM: You see, Rose Kozinos says that you told her
6 that you had been instructed to close the case following
7 discussion with Mairs and Baptiste.
8 MISS ARTHURWORREY: (Shakes head).
9 MR GARNHAM: Had you been instructed to close the file after
10 discussion with Mairs and Baptiste?
11 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Well Rose Kozinos has probably taken
12 that from Angella Mairs' supervision notes where it says
13 "Closing Summary".
14 MR GARNHAM: Her point appears to be different, that you
15 told her that that is what you had been told to do.
16 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I do not recollect having any such
17 conversation with Rose Kozinos.
18 MR GARNHAM: You have to prepare a summary sheet as well as
19 a letter when your case is going to be closed. What is
20 the process, what happens after you have done your
21 summary? Where did it go to?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: I would have completed my -- I had
23 completed my closing summary. At the same time on the
24 contact sheet, on the last contact sheet I would have
25 said it would have been recorded on that last contact
150
1 sheet, "File to be closed". The closing procedure in
2 Haringey required a signature from the person
3 supervising me which at that time was Rose Kozinos, and
4 then the overall team manager would have to sign that
5 last contact sheet. I am not sure whether she signed
6 the closing summary but I know that Rose Kozinos would
7 have had to have signed the closing summary.
8 MR GARNHAM: That summary has gone missing.
9 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It has.
10 MR GARNHAM: What is the relationship between the signing of
11 the closure summary and the signing off of the document
12 that we have at page 39?
13 MISS ARTHURWORREY: Basically the procedure was this.
14 Angella Mairs and Rose Kozinos signed the final contact
15 sheet. Rose Kozinos would have passed Victoria's file
16 on to Angella Mairs for -- to authorise overall closing.
17 Angella Mairs signed the last contact sheet, she would
18 have countersigned the closing summary and this
19 signature is the last stage of the closing procedure.
20 MR GARNHAM: But it is done at the same time, is it, two
21 signatures are done at the same time?
22 MISS ARTHURWORREY: It is done at the same time.
23 MR GARNHAM: Sir, I am about to move on to amongst my last
24 issues. I know that Miss Arthurworrey was keen to take
25 another break during the afternoon. I wonder whether
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