Probe on tragic Wolverhampton boy Daniel Jones parents' drugs claims
Claims that social workers knew the parents of a 23-month-old boy who died of a heroin overdose were taking drugs were today being investigated, as the pair both started prison terms over his death.
The allegation was made at Wolverhampton Crown Court as Emma Bradburn and Simon Jones, the mother and father of tragic toddler Daniel Jones, were both jailed at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
The toddler had been under the supervision of a team of welfare staff headed by a social worker since birth but this had been halted two weeks before tragedy struck on the grounds that he was loved and his mother was a good parent. Daniel was killed after picking up and swallowing some of his 30-year-old father's heroin days later, the court was told yesterday.
He had been put on a 'child in need' plan at birth because both parents were heroin addicts and his mother was badly disabled after suffering serious injuries in a road crash.
Compensation money from the accident was used by her to buy the family home in Windsor Avenue, Penn, Wolverhampton, where Daniel died while sharing a bed with them on May 29 last year.
The bedroom was littered with drug paraphernalia and cannabis leaves were being dried within feet of where he slept.
Mr Christopher O'Gorman, defending 34-year-old Bradburn, told Wolverhampton Crown Court: "Those involved in the 'child in need plan' were aware that drugs were being consumed when the monitoring ended."
These allegations will now be investigated by a Serious Case Review into social services handling of the case that is already under way and is due to be completed by the end of August.
Mr Alan Coe, the Chairman of Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board said: "It is critical that we await the publication of this report before drawing any conclusions."
