Marcia Grant: Council failings led to incident which saw boy, 12, kill foster carer with car

Marcia Grant, 60, had been working as a foster carer for seven years when she suffered catastrophic injuries as she tried to stop the boy taking her car outside her home in the Greenhill area of Sheffield on April 5 2023.

The boy, referred to as Child X, was sentenced to two years in custody in November 2023 after admitting causing Mrs Grant's death by dangerous driving, when a murder charge was dropped.

On Tuesday, South Yorkshire coroner Marilyn Whittle recorded a narrative conclusion after an inquest into Mrs Grant's death, saying the circumstances which led to the fatal incident "were contributed to by the failings of the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to have appropriate systems and processes in place when placing foster children, including but not limited to the lack of accurate and complete documentation, failure to communicate risks and concerns appropriately, failure to conduct appropriate risk assessments and failing to safeguard those in their care".

Ms Whittle said she would be writing a "prevention of future deaths" report addressing issues including the council's lack of documentation and failure to complete forms; and a shortage of placements, although she said this was a "national issue" and not just to be directed at Rotherham .

The inquest heard Mrs Grant and her husband Delroy were experienced foster carers who were highly regarded by the council's fostering team.

They were caring for another child, referred to as Child Y, when a call went out to all Rotherham's foster carers for an emergency placement for Child X on March 30 2023.

The inquest heard how Mr and Mrs Grant volunteered to take him, despite them being categorised as only able to take in one child at a time, largely because of the complexities Child Y presented to them.

Ms Whittle said that Child X had a youth caution for possessing a knife and had at times talked about wanting to be part of gang culture, but this information was not included on the initial placement referral form, making it "deficient".

She said Mrs Grant's decision that she could provide Child X with a short term placement "was made without her full knowledge of Child X's risks" because of "the failings of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to have in place systems and processes to ensure full details are included and up to date forms were used".

The coroner said the Grants' social worker who was asked for his opinion on whether they were a suitable match for Child X, was not told about the boy claiming to have stabbed people or been involved in gangs, and "would have categorically said that was not a match" if he had been.

Ms Whittle found that "had the proper process been undertaken, Child X would not have been placed with the Grant family".

The inquest heard on April 4 , Mrs Grant received a visit from the Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) who discussed the placement with her.

The IRO said after the meeting they would not recommend the placement was extended as concerns were raised that Mrs Grant was keeping knives locked in another room, and the boy had told her he had stabbed someone, spat at the neighbour and had sex with 10 girls.

Child X was removed from Mrs Grant's care on April 5 , but she was asked to keep him on for a longer placement because social services were not able to find an alternative placement.

Shortly after he was returned to the Grants' home, he attempted to steal their car.

Mrs Whittle said Mrs Grant was killed as she stood behind the vehicle in an attempt to stop him driving it away.