Lessons can be learned from death of Stacey Lawrence says review
CHILDREN’S agencies must learn lessons from the death of Midland nine-year-old Stacey Lawrence, who was sexually abused and strangled by her mother’s boyfriend.
A Serious Case Review found failings in child care relating to Stacey, of Bagnall Street, West Bromwich, spanning Sandwell and other areas where she lived, including Wolverhampton, Walsall, Thurrock, Peterborough and Salford.
But the report also stated that Stacey’s death, in August 2009, at the hands of Darren Walker, 40, who later committed suicide, could not have been predicted or prevented.
The youngster’s body was found in a white Spar lorry in a lay-by near Warmington, Northants, and Walker was discovered hanging from a tree in a nearby wood.
Problems highlighted by the SRC into Stacey’s death include a failure in children’s school records being passed on effectively when a youngster moves from one authority area to another.
