fatal infection. he was only ten months old. fatal infection. he was only ten months old-— fatal infection. he was only ten months old. ., ., ., , months old. the amount of in'uries he had, the — months old. the amount of in'uries he had, the sustained * months old. the amount of in'uries he had, the sustained period h months old. the amount of injuries he had, the sustained period they i he had, the sustained period they were inflicted over, it would have been completely normal forjacob to have lived a life of pain, he would have lived a life of pain, he would have been in pain almost throughout his ten month life. just horrendous levels of injury. his ten month life. just horrendous levels of injury-— levels of in'ury. crouch has been found levels of injury. crouch has been found guilty _ levels of injury. crouch has been found guilty of— levels of injury. crouch has been found guilty ofjacob's _ levels of injury. crouch has been found guilty ofjacob's murder, i found guilty ofjacob's murder, barton was cleared of murder but convicted of causing or allowing her son's death. neither have explained how or whyjacob died. i mentioned in the introduction there will be a safeguarding review into his death, thatis safeguarding review into his death, that is a matter of course when a child dies like this. we do not think in his case, as it has been in previous ones, there was much social services involvement. it appears craig crouch and gemma barton were able to hide behind this happy smiling facade they created, including some of those videos which
those verdicts were read out a short while ago. one person had to be taken out of the court, they were so overcome with the news that jacob crouch�*s stepfather had been convicted of murder and his mother of the lesser charge of allowing the death of a child. there will be a safeguarding review into this case, the first of all here is a look into the first of all here is a look into the background of what happened to jacob. pl. the background of what happened to jacob. �* , _ , jacob. a smiling giggling baby but durin: his jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short _ jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short life, _ jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short life, he _ jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short life, he enjoyed l during his short life, he enjoyed what was described as a culture of cruelty by his mother and stepfather.— cruelty by his mother and stepfather. cruelty by his mother and ste father. , ., , , ., stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold- he has _ stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone _ stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. _ stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. this - stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. this is - stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. this is the | cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made _ cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made after _ cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made after they - cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made after they found - 999 call made after they found jacob�*s lifeless body in his cot five days after christmas in 2020. they met on a dating site when she was four months pregnant. they were
of causing or allowing the death of a child. those were the pictures from the courthouse. phil mackie was at derby crown court for the hearing... there was high emotion at the end of their seven—week trial, there were gasps and tears in the public galleries as those verdicts were read out a short while ago. one person had to be taken out of the court, they were so overcome with the news that jacob crouch's step had been convicted of murder and his mother of the lesser charge of causing or allowing the death of a child. there will be a safeguarding review into this case but first of all, it's a look at the background at what happened to jacob. a smiling asmiling and a smiling and giggling baby but during jacob crouch's short life he endured what was described as a culture of cruelty at the hands of his mother, gemma barton, and
to be adjourned to a later date. what about child protection services? interesting, often we hear in these cases there had been a lot of contact. in this case it appears there wasn't. nonetheless there is a safeguarding review, that as i was triggered when there has been a death of a young child in a situation like this. they carried out a review, there is a new policy which has been brought in as a result of not just which has been brought in as a result of notjust this case but others around the country, to make people more aware of signs to look out for. we haven't seen the full safeguarding review, it will be interesting to read what was found on whether or not there had been any opportunities that were missed. it does appear in this case they were able to put on an impression of being a happy, doting parents, whereas in reality behind closed doors, during those lockdowns, they
those verdicts were read out a short while ago. one person had to be taken out of the court, they were so overcome with the news that jacob crouch's stepfather had been convicted of murder and his mother of the lesser charge of allowing the death of a child. there will be a safeguarding review into this case, the first of all here is a look into the first of all here is a look into the background of what happened to jacob. g the background of what happened to jacob. �* , _ , jacob. a smiling giggling baby but durin: his jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short _ jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short life, _ jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short life, he _ jacob. a smiling giggling baby but during his short life, he enjoyed l during his short life, he enjoyed what was described as a culture of cruelty by his mother and stepfather.— cruelty by his mother and stepfather. cruelty by his mother and ste father. , ., , , ., stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold- he has _ stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone _ stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. _ stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. this - stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. this is - stepfather. he is gone. he is stone cold. he has gone stiff. this is the | cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made _ cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made after _ cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made after they - cold. he has gone stiff. this is the 999 call made after they found - 999 call made after they found jacob's lifeless body in his cot five days after christmas in 2020. they met on a dating site when she was four months pregnant. they were
soi so i mentioned in the introduction that there would be a safeguarding review into his death, that is a matter of course when a child dies like this. but we don't think in his case, as i have been in previous ones, there was much social services involvement. it appears craig crouch and gemma barton were able to hide behind this happy, smiling facade that they created, including some of those videos you saw there, which they shared with people to show that they shared with people to show that they were loving parents. obviously they were loving parents. obviously the reality was very different to that. however, there may have been on the missed opportunities. they would have had contact with other agencies before jacob's death. the other question this raises, much like it has with other children's debts in this country in that period of time, remember this was december 2020, is whether or not the various lockdown is enabled the killers of the young child to hide away from plain site and get away somewhat with what they were doing. so today we have got that guilty verdict. craig crouch has been found guilty
ago, reporting, different court but ago, reporting, different court but a different child, finley boden, and in both cases, like alfie, they have been killed by a parent and a partner and those other people who should have been looking after them. what is a similar part of all all of those three stories is that deaths and the abuse they suffered happened during the height of the covid pandemic and it is believed that as a result of that, they were rather lost in the system and in fact, during the court case here, the prosecutor is referred to alfie as having, his case having been lost in the cracks because of the system, because checks were not taken place. and there were dozens of phone calls made by neighbours raising concerns which begs the question, what could have been done to save alfie? that is the subject as i said about this safeguarding review. they have said that will continue at a pace now, it does not mean it will happen in the next few weeks, more likely we will hearin next few weeks, more likely we will hear in the autumn whether or not those agencies, the police and
in this was one of a number of 999 course. i heard lots of banging and it sounded like someone splashing around in the bathtub. this was made six months before alfie was killed. in other cause, neighbours told operators they had seen social workers and police visit the house on numerous occasions, which begs the question, could alfie have been saved? there is a safeguarding review under way. that is looking at what contact different agencies had with the family and whether or not they could have intervened sooner. in the moments after he died, you can see a slogan on the living room wall. it says "family — where life begins and love never ends". if only it had been true, alfie steele may still have been alive. phil mackie is outside coventry crown court. as you are saying in the report, this happened during covid lockdowns. a lot of questions for the authorities, though. i lockdowns. a lot of questions for the authorities, though.- the authorities, though. i think particularly _ the authorities, though. i think particularly the _ the authorities, though. i think particularly the police - the authorities, though. i think particularly the police in - the authorities, though. i think particularly the police in this i the authorities, though. i think i particularly the police in this case will have questions to answer and that independent safeguarding review. we know that there were lots of 999 calls made about dirk howell and his presence at the house. he
was always in breach of a court order by staying there, so the question is why was he allowed to do so? knowing that alfie was at risk, what were the social services doing? all those questions will be asked. i am told that safeguarding review, which has been passed during the criminal proceedings, will now continue at pace. that probably means several months, but then we might get to know some answers. covid is any backdrop to this case, much like it was in other cases where children have died that i have reported on. finally, others at coventry crown court, there are questions notjust about coventry crown court, there are questions not just about the authorities in this case, but whether or not because of covid lockdowns and social distancing, the authorities really took a back—seat. we heard in court that alfie may have simply fallen through the cracks. terrible news for his family, his grandfather paul scott sat in floods of tears at the verdict, so we are expecting a statement from him and the police later today. statement from him and the police later toda . statement from him and the police later today-— later today. fell, thank you very much. later today. fell, thank you very much- phil— later today. fell, thank you very much. phil mackie _ later today. fell, thank you very