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23 June 2011
Last updated at 05:06 ET
Fourteen agencies missed opportunities to save a three-year-old boy who was killed by a couple who were meant to be caring for him, a report has found.
Ryan Lovell-Hancox died on 24 December 2008 from a brain injury he received at Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn's home in Bilston, near Wolverhampton.
They were jailed for murder and child cruelty in July 2010.
Wolverhampton's Safeguarding Children Board has released the findings of a serious case review into Ryan's death.
He received more than 70 injuries from the defendants who blamed each other for his death.
The review found that several agencies failed to intervene in the child's care and there was "no evidence of effective communication or liaison" between them.
It said staff might have been "overburdened, and so the time and space required to think through the difficult cases was simply not there".
About 60 recommendations were made in the report.
'Risk to children' Ryan's mother, Amy Hancox, who knew nothing of the abuse, had told Taylor and Boleyn's trial that she had given Ryan to them to look after as she "was not coping".
The report concluded that Ms Hancox, Boleyn and Taylor were all "known" to statutory authorities.
It stated: "The police should have recorded child protection concerns in relation to [Boleyn] in September 2005."
When Taylor was convicted for an offence unrelated to Ryan, a pre-sentence report had said he posed a "medium-level risk" to children.
The review said this should have resulted in the authorities intervening to protect the child.
It said despite this, a probation officer had seen Taylor with Ryan in December 2008 but taken no action.
It said the authorities were aware of Taylor and Boleyn's relationship and concerns were raised about his influence over her.
The report said: "If the records had been in place there is a chance that action would have been taken to remove [Ryan] from [Boleyn's] flat, but that is not certain."
The report concluded that Ms Hancox, Boleyn and Taylor were all "well known to the various agencies involved with child protection".
It added that Ryan "was not protected and suffered non-accidental injury as a result of which [he] died."
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Ryan Lovell-Hancox died on 24 December 2008 from a brain injury he received at Christopher Taylor and Kayley Boleyn's home in Bilston, near Wolverhampton.
They were jailed for murder and child cruelty in July 2010.
Wolverhampton's Safeguarding Children Board has released the findings of a serious case review into Ryan's death.
He received more than 70 injuries from the defendants who blamed each other for his death.
The review found that several agencies failed to intervene in the child's care and there was "no evidence of effective communication or liaison" between them.
It said staff might have been "overburdened, and so the time and space required to think through the difficult cases was simply not there".
About 60 recommendations were made in the report.
'Risk to children' Ryan's mother, Amy Hancox, who knew nothing of the abuse, had told Taylor and Boleyn's trial that she had given Ryan to them to look after as she "was not coping".
The report concluded that Ms Hancox, Boleyn and Taylor were all "known" to statutory authorities.
It stated: "The police should have recorded child protection concerns in relation to [Boleyn] in September 2005."
When Taylor was convicted for an offence unrelated to Ryan, a pre-sentence report had said he posed a "medium-level risk" to children.
The review said this should have resulted in the authorities intervening to protect the child.
It said despite this, a probation officer had seen Taylor with Ryan in December 2008 but taken no action.
It said the authorities were aware of Taylor and Boleyn's relationship and concerns were raised about his influence over her.
The report said: "If the records had been in place there is a chance that action would have been taken to remove [Ryan] from [Boleyn's] flat, but that is not certain."
The report concluded that Ms Hancox, Boleyn and Taylor were all "well known to the various agencies involved with child protection".
It added that Ryan "was not protected and suffered non-accidental injury as a result of which [he] died."
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