Sacked Baby P chief may appeal

FORMER children's services chief Sharon Shoesmith is considering an appeal after losing a High Court battle against being sacked following the death of Baby P.

A judge upheld the decision of Children's Secretary Ed Balls to remove her from her child safety role with Haringey Council in north London following a damning Ofsted report.

Mr Justice Foskett ruled yesterday that the highly publicised move by Mr Balls in December 2008 "cannot be impugned on the grounds of unfairness".

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The evidence before him was not strong enough to back up claims Ms Shoesmith, 57, was being used as a scapegoat, and the Ofsted report had been "made to order" on behalf of the Minister.

But the judge said he would not disguise the fact that he had reached his conclusions "with a lurking sense of unease".

Ms Shoesmith, who had been earning 130,000 a year, said her career had been ruined by a media witchhunt, political pressure and a "flagrant breach of the rules of natural justice".

The judge said it was "too simplistic" to suggest Mr Balls had been driven by "party politics" or had been improperly influenced by media pressure.

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Lawyers for Ms Shoesmith expressed "disappointment" with the court's decision and said an appeal was under consideration.

Mr Balls described the killing of Baby P as a "terrible and heinous crime" and said: "It is clear from the judgment that my motivations were the right ones and I acted in a proper way."

The Minister commissioned an urgent Ofsted inspection in November 2008, soon after the jailing of those responsible for the death of Baby P, now named as Peter Connelly.

Baby P was just 17 months old when he died in August 2007 at the hands of his mother Tracey Connelly, her lover Steven Barker and their lodger, Barker's brother Jason Owen.

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The boy had suffered 50 injuries despite receiving 60 visits from social workers, doctors and police over the final eight months of his life.

A series of reviews identified missed opportunities when officials could have his life if they had acted properly on the warning signs in front of them.

Ms Shoesmith, 57, was removed from her child care responsibilities by Mr Balls on December 1, and was formally sacked by Haringey council a week later.

Yesterday Mr Justice Foskett, sitting in London, expressed concern that Mr Balls was "persuaded to offer his opinion" that Ms Shoesmith should be dismissed.

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But there was "no sustainable basis" for suggesting there was "political or other improper interference in the Ofsted inspection, or the report-writing process by, or on behalf, of the Secretary of State".

The judge said there were also "strong grounds" for thinking Ms Shoesmith and others subjected to the inspection "did not have a full, fair and measured opportunity to explain their position".

But he ruled that "did not invalidate what Ofsted did". In addition, he said he was also not satisfied the procedures involved in Haringey's dismissal of Ms Shoesmith "gave the appearance of fairness", but that was a matter for an employment tribunal to decide.

The judge concluded: "When thinking of those who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, sadly, tragically...one can reach no other conclusion than that was so for Peter."

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Later Ms Shoesmith's solicitors, London-based Beachcroft, said in a statement: "We are disappointed that, despite the serious criticisms made by the judge of Ofsted, the Secretary of State and Haringey Council, the judge has not upheld Sharon's claim for judicial review.

"We nevertheless welcome the finding that Haringey acted unfairly in dismissing Sharon Shoesmith."