A harrowing review into the case of a teenage rapist has revealed how he was considered "beyond control" at 15 and frightened social work and care staff.
The boy was recently locked up for a horrific series of rapes and sexual assaults on two child victims - but a detailed look at his upbringing describes how a damaged child became a dangerous sex offender.
A Child Safeguarding Practice Review, which follows when a child in care is convicted of serious sexual offences, described how the boy, referred to as 'Child Paul', was taken into care at 15.
However a shortage of placements meant no suitable accommodation, in a facility designed for his needs, was available despite his severe mental health problems and violent behaviour.
The review, on behalf of Knowsley Safeguarding Children Partnership, described how Paul was born into an abusive and unstable household and detailed a miserable upbringing scarred by traumatic events.
Both his parents had been taken into care as children and had both been sexually abused, with his dad described as unstable and violent and his mum as demonstrating "poor parenting skills".
According to the review:
Paul was sexually abused by a male relative aged three.
An adult raised concerns about Paul displaying "highly sexualised behaviour" at five years old.
By eight he was self-harming and at nine had tried to kill himself.
When Paul was 10, Merseyside Police officers visited his home and stated the property was "one of the most disgusting houses they had been into”.
At 13 years old Paul witnessed an incident where his dad threatened to slit his mum's throat.
By 15 years old his parents had separated, his dad had assaulted his mum, and Paul had also assaulted his mum and dad and had been charged with those assaults.
The review found that despite some examples of good practice attempts to address his volatile living situation had not been effective.
It said: "The way in which statutory agencies worked together to meet Child Paul’s needs when he was younger was not sufficiently robust.
"For example, there were several assessments undertaken by children’s social care which did not adequately identify the risks inherent within this family.
"As a result, there was drift in the planning and the delivery of safeguarding interventions."
Paul was taken into care at 15 when his mum could no longer handle his behaviour - and professionals said by this stage "the damage was already done."
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Questions were raised about why care proceedings were not more aggressively pursued at an earlier stage, where more support could have been ordered by a court.
The review also found that not all front line care and social work staff dealing with Paul knew the full extent of his horrifying childhood and information had not been shared effectively.
As he got older, Paul became involved in dealing heroin and crack, was known to carry weapons and would disappear for long periods.
According to the review: "Child Paul had demonstrated that he could be extremely violent and had criminal associates.
"Child Paul would not comply with the requests made to him. From (age 15) it is reasonable to say that Child Paul was out of the control of those trying to support him.
"Professionals that attempted to support or care for him were often abused, threatened or assaulted. It is recorded that professionals were in fear of him.
"In these circumstances there needs to be support for those engaging with the child not only to protect the professional from harm, but to ensure that progress is made in supporting the child.
"Where a child is beyond control and is a danger to himself or others there must be a clear risk management plan.
"In this case that did not appear to exist until August 2018 when Child Paul was the subject of the Multi-Agency Risk Management process that was regularly reviewed and included a risk management plan that highlighted staff safety issues."
Paul was eventually arrested after a relative caught him sexually assaulting a young girl.
An investigation found he had raped and sexually assaulted two underage girls, and had used threats of violence and weapons to keep them quiet.
According to the review: "Child Paul had an horrific family history of abuse and had himself become an abuser.
"There is no doubt that Child Paul’s reputation for violence and the fact that he carried a weapon was of great and understandable concern to professionals.
"This clearly affected the opportunities to support him."
Knowsley Safeguarding Children Partnership, which includes Knowsley Council, Merseyside Police, and local NHS bodies, said it was committed to "learning lessons" identified in the review.
A spokesman said: "The review was conducted by an experienced and respected independent author. He has highlighted a number of learning points and made recommendations to address these areas, which will be implemented by the partnership.
"These include;
- A strategic review of the commissioning arrangements for accommodating 'looked after children’ are appropriate and meet the needs of children
- Rigorous scrutiny of the accommodation arrangements for ‘looked after children’.
- An audit of the accommodation for children provided under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 to ensure that vulnerable children are afforded appropriate safeguarding measures that protect them.
- A review of training for agencies who are dealing with violent young people to establish if there are sufficient specialists available to support high-risk individuals.
- An audit of commissioned mental health services available in Knowsley to seek reassurance that they are sufficient to support young people with a wide range of mental health issues
- A learning event to raise awareness on the development of a trauma informed approach in child protection decisions. We have a robust governance structure that will provide appropriate rigour and hold people to account. The lessons learned in this review will be cascaded to professionals to raise their awareness and improve outcomes for children in Knowsley.
"We are determined to work together to ensure that any changes made, safeguard and protect children in Knowsley."
