Toddler's death at home of drunken mother 'predictable and preventable'

Mother Tracey Sutherland, 39, was jailed for 27 months last April after her son, Alex, was found by police in front of a lit gas fire with apparent bruising to the torso and forehead at her home in Baguley, Manchester.

He was taken to hospital but pronounced dead later the same day on November 10, 2009.

A pathologist's report concluded no direct link could be found between the mother's neglect and the toddler's death. She pleaded guilty to child cruelty and the judge who sentenced her criticised social services for "their startling lack of urgency" in the case.

A serious case review by Manchester Safeguarding Children's Board yesterday found no single agency was to blame for failing to protect Alex but his case was "poorly managed throughout".

When he was just three weeks old police were called to his home and found circumstances similar to the scene of his death – his mother was drunk and Alex was in front of the gas fire and surrounded by combustible material.

Alex was made subject to a Child in Need plan until June 2009 when it was considered his mother was able to offer a "good enough" standard of care "despite a lack of evidence of progress". The report noted that Sutherland missed a number of health appointments in that period, the child's weight had plummeted and there were ongoing concerns about her alcohol use. On October 4 2009 police were called to the house after a family row surrounding Sutherland's drinking and alleged neglect. Social workers visited the next day, however, and found Alex appeared to be well.

On November 3 – a week before his body was found – an anonymous call to social services claimed Alex looked small and undernourished, and his mother was behaving erratically.

A health visitor planned to meet Sutherland two days later but the mother cancelled the appointment and rearranged it for November 12.

At around 6.55am on November 10, Sutherland dialled 999, telling the call handler she was alone, had a dead baby at her house and had been for the past three days as she could not let him go.

Mick Muir, author of the independent report, concluded: "It was the view of the Review Panel that Child T's (Alex) case was poorly managed throughout."