Baby Peter's tragic death 'was eminently avoidable'

Maria Ward and Gillie Christou, former social workers with Haringey Council in north London, admitted that their failings in the case amounted to misconduct.

They failed to ensure Peter was visited regularly enough, did not keep adequate records and may have allowed his abuse to escalate by not ensuring his childminder was replaced, a General Social Care Council (GSCC) conduct committee heard.

Peter Connelly was just 17 months old when he died in a blood-spattered cot in Tottenham, north London, on August 3, 2007.

Marios Lambis, counsel for the GSCC, said lessons should have been learned after the death of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie in Haringey in 2000.

He said: "It can be said that the death of Peter was an eminently avoidable tragedy. The abuse of Peter Connelly was allowed to persist due to a failure of Haringey social services to learn from past mistakes."

Ms Ward and Ms Christou did not attend yesterday's hearing in London. Their counsel, Nick Toms, said they admitted all the claims made against them by the GSCC and accepted that their actions amounted to misconduct.

As Peter's nominated social worker, Ms Ward was required to make an announced or unannounced visit to see him at least once a fortnight, the hearing was told.

But between June 1 and July 30, 2007, she only saw him at intervals of 11, 19, 22 and 19 days.

The two social workers also admitted that they did not make sure Peter was given a new childminder when his existing one, Ann Walker, said she could not look after him any more in mid-July 2007.

Ms Walker, who cared for Peter four days a week for six weeks, reported unexplained injuries on the boy's body to Ms Ward on three separate occasions.

A week after Ms Walker stopped looking after Peter, the child was inspected by a doctor who found a number of wounds.

Mr Lambis said: "Such injuries were significantly more numerous and severe than the few bruises observed previously on Peter, and may have contributed to his death two days later.