'I was right to raise alarm about Aaron'
THE woman who raised the alarm about murdered baby Aaron Gilbert said she feels vindicated after a Swansea social worker was struck off.
Sharon Hurlow feels she is owed an apology and she told the Post that a meeting was being lined up with the council's head of children and family services.
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"I have been waiting for this day ever since Aaron closed his eyes for the last time," said Ms Hurlow.
The 45-year-old made two anonymous phone calls to social services on April 27 and May 5, 2005. Concerns were expressed about Aaron's family.
After the April 27 phone call, social services sent a letter to Aaron's mother asking her to attend an interview, but the letter ended up at the wrong address. Just why that happened remains in dispute.
On May 5, the day of Ms Hurlow's second phone call, 13-month-old Aaron was murdered by his mother's violent partner, Andrew Lloyd.
Swansea Council social worker Eleni Cordingley has been told she could no longer practise in the UK after a Care Council for Wales hearing in Cardiff. It found she did not respond appropriately to the phone calls, and exercised "extremely poor judgement". She has subsequently been suspended by Swansea Council.
But after the tragedy, Mrs Cordingley returned to her job after being off on maternity leave. She was given extra training and support, but faced a disciplinary hearing in October 2007.
Ms Hurlow, the cousin of Aaron's mother Rebecca Lewis, said people had questioned her version of events ever since 2005.
Now she feels vindicated.
"I am so pleased," she said. "In the beginning everyone thought I was lying. Now I have got a bit of justice." Her bittersweet relief, however, is overshadowed by Aaron's continuing absence.
Ms Hurlow described how happy she was for her cousin when she became pregnant.
But alarm bells rang in April 2005 when she said she saw Aaron in a soiled pram in Townhill. She alleged there were bruises on his ankles, and picked up the phone to social services. The exact content of this phone call remains the subject of some dispute.
Days later Ms Hurlow tried to see Aaron and his mother at their former home in Gwylfa Road, but she didn't make it past the front door when Lloyd "appeared from nowhere" and forcibly blocked her off.
That incident prompted Ms Hurlow's second phone call to social services, but later that day Aaron was dead.
"I still visit Aaron's grave — I went at Christmas," said Ms Hurlow, of Elphin Gardens, Townhill. "And if I saw something similar happening to another child, I would do the same thing again."
8 Comments
by Rowland Bevan, Dunvant
Thursday, January 29 2009, 9:36AM
“This is indeed a very sad case But the buck should not stop with rhe social worker. The responsibility and goes right to the top. The Cabinet Member has to fight for funding to get more social workers and better training.”
by Felicity, Swansea
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 9:07PM
“So sad that this litle boy had to suffer and die at the hands of those who were meant to love him and protect him. Well done to this lady for trying to protect him, perhaps she would have been better off contacting the dad of Aaron.”
by jd, swansea
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 2:32PM
“As tragic as this case is, the horrendous workload placed on social workers in Swansea Council was always going to have horrific consequences. Why does it always take a tragedy to make the people ultimately responsible, (not the individual case worker concerned) bleat words of regret when if they had funded the recruitment process of this over-worked and most crucial of departments correctly, maybe this awful loss of life would never have occured. Easy to make an individual a scapegoat, rather misses the point though.”
by Accord, Swansea
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 12:11PM
“Why did social services department delay sending the outcome of the disciplinary hearing to the Care Council of Wales?”
by Paul, Swansea
Wednesday, January 28 2009, 8:36AM
“How can she feel vindicated when she hid behind anonimity.
Her allegations would surely have been taken more seriously if Social Services could have spoken to her at some length about what was going on.
No one in this terrible incident has come out of it smelling of roses.”
by Ray Welsby, Clase Morriston
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 8:39PM
“Having read this article I am pleased to see that the social worker as been dismissed. As a former councillor who wanted to know the name of the social worker involved. This was denied to councillors in opposition I now believe,this was done to protect the Head of Social Services and the cabinet member for social services who would not accept responsibility. I now hope that the assembly calls for a full inquiry into this case and that the Prime Minister and Ed Balls take the same action they took with Harringay Council in London.”
by Joe Black, Bridgend
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 7:34PM
“I am ashamed the way this hard working social worker has been scapegoated, where was the line manager mentioned in all of this? this social worker was carrying a huge caseload at the time, until this farcial manner of managment is recognised, this will continue to happen.
Social workers are the foot soldiers and it is easy to blame them for these atrocities managment and line managers hide behind them for their woeful mismanagment of cases. We will see more of this happening because nobody will acknowlage that the poor social workers are abused in this way by overloading them with cases.”
by dai pugh, swansea
Tuesday, January 27 2009, 6:37PM
“don't forget this happened on the Children's Commissioner's doorstep.
Do the public know that the Children's Commissioner has no powers to step in and protect a child in Aaron's or a Baby P or Shannon Matthews situation?
One would have thought the Welsh Assembly or the Children's Minister would do something about it?
did they know swansea social services was a shambles before his death but wouldn't do anything about it?”