Ollie Davis: Lack of focus on dad who killed his baby - review

Ollie Davis was described as a "sweet boy" by his wider family

Social services did not take early opportunities to assess the family of a baby boy before he was murdered by his father, a review has found.

Ollie Davis suffered a broken neck, 23 broken ribs, fractures to his skull, collar bone, both arms and the joints of all his limbs prior to his death in Leicester in 2017.

His father Michael Davis was convicted of Ollie's murder on Thursday.

A safeguarding report has been partially published after the trial.

There was a "lack of curiosity" about Michael Davis, the review found

The report, compiled by Leicester Safeguarding Children Partnership Board in 2017, said the abuse four-week-old Ollie suffered was "not foreseeable" but there were lessons to be learned from the case.

The review found "early opportunities to refer and assess [the family] were not taken".

It concluded pre-birth work with them was not considered necessary "despite the significant previous involvement which both parents had had with Children's Social Care".

It added there was a lack of focus on Michael Davis's "identity" and a lack of "professional curiosity about his history and circumstances".

Not all the contacts and referrals made to social care services about Ollie were "treated with sufficient care, thoroughness and gravity", documents added.

This resulted in delays identifying his needs prior to his birth and in addressing the concerns raised by local professionals.

'Systemic shortfalls'

An assessment was started after Ollie's birth but "not immediately conducted as a detailed assessment within a multi-agency approach", the report said.

Involving partner agencies and sharing information was "compromised at points in this case", the review found, and this happened on "more than one occasion and by different partners and local authorities".

"Some effort" had been made by all the relevant agencies to keep Ollie safe, the report said.

The board found agencies had not believed there was any evidence of an immediate risk to him.

However, the findings added "more could have been done to explore vulnerability and risk for this family".

Ollie was found unresponsive in his cot at a home in Beaumont Leys, Leicester

The board concluded: "It is very clear that all the professionals who were involved with [baby Ollie] and his family worked to help his parents to care for him and to keep him safe.

"There was a strong commitment from staff and evidence of efforts being made to support the family. There were some procedural issues and systemic shortfalls identified but these would have not contributed to [Ollie's] death."

Leicester City Council said 16 improvements proposed following the safeguarding review had been implemented since 2017, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported.

Davis, 29, will be sentenced at Leicester Crown Court on 10 April.

Ollie's mother Kayleigh Driver, 31, was found not guilty of murder and was also cleared of a separate charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

However, she was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child, and causing or allowing a child to suffer serious physical injury.

She was released on conditional bail.