Social workers have been 'assaulted in the street' following the evil killing of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes by his stepmum.
Social workers have been subjected to physical and verbal abuse as a direct result of the harrowing case, Jenny Turnross, director of practice at Birmingham’s Children’s Trust has said.
The murder of the six-year-old and the conviction of his stepmum and dad on December 3 sparked public outrage and grief across the country.
The response prompted the UK Government to announce an inquiry into how social services and local authorities liaise and Boris Johnson urged a so-called Arthur’s Law so child killers die in prison.
Arthur was assaulted and tortured before his murder at the hands of stepmum Emma Tustin at her Solihull home.
She was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 29 years on Friday, December 3.
Arthur’s twisted dad, Thomas Hughes, was jailed for 21 years for his manslaughter.
Since their sentencing a passionate plea from the Jenny Turnross, the trust’s chief executive not to “demonise” staff following the murder of the six-year-old.
The leader of Solihull Council has also ordered an “independent verification” of the local authority’s involvement in Arthur’s life, according to Birmingham Live.
The case happened under the jurisdiction of Solihull Children’s Safeguarding Partnership but its ripple effect has extended into Birmingham and beyond.
Andy Couldrick, the chief executive of Birmingham Children’s Trust, previously made a passionate plea to heartbroken Brummies not to direct their anger at social workers.
But his colleague, Jenny Turnross, has now revealed their worst fears have come true.
BirminghamLive understands that, during one shocking encounter, a social worker was spat at in the street.
“There have been reported incidents of social workers being called names and assaulted in the street,” Ms Turnross told BirminghamLive. “I can confirm that.”
Asked if a direct connection could be made between the Arthur case and these alleged incidents, she said: “Yes it can because those are the conversations that are taking place in our communities at the moment.
“Everybody is very distressed and saddened by what’s happened to Arthur so yes we can make that connection.
“Only today (December 10), our lead member for children’s staff has spoken to staff about having zero tolerance to our staff being harmed and threatened. It’s a very difficult climate that we work in.”
Ms Turnross urged people to support social workers.
She said people in the media and Government could talk to communities and help them understand how the vast majority of children in the city are safe.
She went on: “People see these beautiful pictures of Arthur and think ‘how can professionals and organisations allow something like to happen to this child’.
“But what they don’t see is the thousands of children we support and keep safe. They don’t see that because, unfortunately, the good news doesn’t really travel.
“It’s really such a shame, the public doesn’t understand that social workers do not have the power to remove children.
“Our job is to go and investigate and write up our findings. If we are concerned, we put that information to the court or to the police.
“We are the face of it but we are sat in a multi-agency arrangement.”
Ms Turncross added that social workers in Birmingham and across the county were facing a very challenging landscape.
She oversees 800 social workers in the trust and said she was communicating with them every day by asking them to be aware of the anger and upset in communities.
“We will be the target of some of that anger,” she went on. “And that’s something that sadly, in this society, we have to be prepared for.”
