The heartbreaking Case of Victoria Climbie

On February 24 the year 2000 a small 8 year old girl and her mother arrived at Tottenham ambulance in London. The little girl was rushed straight to accident and emergency department at North Middlesex Hospital where she was transferred to the intensive care unit, what they go onto discover was almost a year of the most severe child abuse and neglect. This young girl had 128 separate injuries. She had been burned starved beaten and bound the Doctor Who examined her said it was the worst case of child abuse she had ever seen. This is the utterly heartbreaking case of Victoria Climbie

Transcript

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On the twenty fourth of February the year two thousand, an eight-year-old girl and her mother arrived at Tottenham Ambulance Station in London. The young girl was rushed straight to accident and emergency department at North Middlesex Hospital, where she was transferred to the intensive care. Her mother was crying and yelling, My baby, my baby. But the ambulance crew who drove them said the mother was she seemed she seemed off, like her concern was not quite enough. And they were right. This was not actually the young girl's mother at all, it was her great aunt, and what they would go on to discover was a year of the most severe child abuse and neglect. This young girl had 128 separate injuries. She had been starved, beaten, burned, and bound. The doctor who examined her said it was the worst case of child abuse that she had ever seen. This is the utterly heartbreaking case of Victoria Columbier. Now before we get started, I just want to introduce myself. My name is Lisa, and this is Unthinkable, a true crime podcast. This is my third episode, and I am finding that I am still stumbling over my sentences, and I know I pause quite a lot. I am really trying to work on this, so hopefully, I will improve. But please keep bearing with me. So I am focusing on telling the stories of abuse and neglect on the most vulnerable in our society. And I feel that even though they are very sad and they are hard to hear and they're horrible to research, but I think it's important to share their stories so they're not forgotten. And you know, the more people that know about them and know the signs to look for, maybe this will help towards preventing these horrible crimes. Um this case today, Victoria Columbia, this is a huge case. This is one of those, like so many, that could have absolutely been prevented. Um she was known to social services, the national health services were involved, the police were involved, and yet this young girl suffered terribly at the hands of a woman who was supposed to care for her. So, right, let's get started. So, Victoria Clumbier, she was born on the 2nd of November in 1991 in a bobo on the Ivory Coast. Her mother was Bertha Amoise, and her father was Francis Clumbier. Now, the couple had seven children, and this was a happy home full of love. Now, where they lived in a bobo, this is a poverty-stricken area with Victoria's family falling into poverty on a number of occasions, and her parents were always looking for ways to improve their children's future. So Victoria was described as a bright, happy child who always had a big smile on her face, and it's said that she had a love of singing. Now, in October 1998, the family were at a family funeral when they were introduced to Victoria's father's aunt, so Victoria's great aunt. This is a lady to a 42-year-old lady called Marie Therese Qual. So Marie Therese came across as a very loving, caring, religious woman. She dressed well and spoke very well. And whilst talking to the family, Victoria's mother was explaining to Marie Therese about wanting a future for her children. They spoke at length, with Marie Therese expressing that she could offer a life in Europe for one of the children. Marie Therese lived in France, where there's better health care, better schooling, better career opportunities, and to Victoria's parents who were living in poverty at this time. Marie Therese's offer sounds hopeful. And Marie Therese said she had a good life in France. She said she had money. So Frances and Berta agreed, and it was decided that Victoria Victoria would be the one to go as she was deemed the most promising. Victoria was excited and happy to go on a new adventure. And you may think it sort of sounds a bit extreme sending your child across, you know, to another country with someone that you don't know very well, but um it's actually not that uncommon in this part of the world, and because of the poverty, families they do send their children to relatives who live in areas with more opportunities, and so it's not that uncommon at all. I think it's like one in one in six, I think, children do get sent to other countries where there's more opportunities for them. So yeah, so it's not that that strange. So even though the parents had only met the aunt a few times, they were happy with the arrangement. And why wouldn't they be? She's family, and from what she's telling them, she can offer Victoria a better life. Now, Marie Therese's claim that she had a wonderful life in France was far, far from the truth. In fact, she was surviving on benefits, and she was a single mother to three older boys. She was living in a rundown suburb of Paris. Victoria's family had been promised regular communication from Victoria, but over the next year they would receive just three messages, all claiming that Victoria was in good health, which, as we will go on to discover, this was not the case. Now, as I said, Victoria was enrolled in school, so this looks promising. However, only a few weeks later, Victoria was increasingly absent from the school, and by the following February, the school actually notified child protection authorities. They state that Victoria is missing an alarming amount of classes, and they say that when she does attend, she seems exhausted and is falling asleep in class. And this is brilliant, the school flagging the first sign of trouble. But Marie Therese, she explains Victoria's condition is actually caused by a skin condition, and the constant scratching is keeping her awake. And it seems that because of this, no further action was taken. In March 1999, Victoria Victoria actually comes to school with a completely shaved head and she's wearing a wig. Again, Marie Therese puts this down to her skin condition. Now, Marie Therese behind the scenes is falling deeper and deeper into debt. She regularly misses her rent payments and eventually she gets evicted from the home with the three boys and Victoria. Marie Therese decides to leave Paris and she and Victoria leave for the UK. They make the move from France in April 1999, and I don't think her boys came with her. There's no evidence that states that the three boys travelled with her to the UK, so it seems she abandoned them. Now they were older, they were in their 20s, early 20s, but the boy's father had actually passed away. So her leaving them behind, she had essentially abandoned them. So Marie, Therese, and the boy's father were actually divorced before he died. So here we are in the UK, and the pair are staying in a B for a few days before moving to a bed sit in West London. On April the 25th, they visited a midwife and counsellor called Esther, and she actually's a distant relative of Marie Therese, and Esther noticed Victoria to be small and frail and to be wearing a wig and what looked like small blisters on her shaved head. Again, Marie Therese explains that she has a skin condition. Between April and early July 1999, Marie Therese visited Ealing Social Services 18 times for financial and housing support. And on the times Marie Therese took Victoria with her, Social Services noted that Victoria's appearance, well she looked malnourished and unkempt, but no action was taken by social services. In fact, during the first month in the UK, no effort was made by Social Services or Marie Therese to enroll Victoria in school. On the 8th of June 1999, Marie got a job at Northwick Park Hospital as a cleaner, and Victoria began spending her days with Priscilla Cameron, a unregistered childminder. On several occasions, Priscilla noticed small cuts on Victoria's hands, which Marie Therese explained away by saying Victoria had been playing with razor blades. But why was she playing with razor blades? Like why wasn't this questioned? So on uh June the 14th, 1999, Marie and Victoria meet up with Esther, who we met earlier, and she sees that Victoria has quite a bad scar on her cheek. And this alarms her. Marie says Victoria has done this by falling down the escalator, but Esther actually anonymously calls Brent Social Services, expressing her concern over Victoria's um injuries. A few days pass and Esther calls again to follow up what's happening with Victoria's case, and she was told by the lady on the phone they've probably done something about it. So things are being flagged, but there's nothing. So on the 14th of June, Marie Therese meets a local bus driver Carl Manning. They meet on the bus that he is driving, and a relationship quickly develops. So quickly that Marie and Victoria actually move into Carl's one-bedroom flat on the 6th of July. Now there is an age difference here, so Manning is 27 and Marie Therese is in her mid-40s. Carl's flat is in Somerset Gardens in Tottenham. And it's pretty safe to say we are unclear of what exactly was happening to Victoria prior to moving in with Carl, but it's in this flat that the abuse and neglect towards Victoria really picks up. So they move in on the 6th of July. By the 13th of July, Marie Therese took Victoria to a child to childminder Priscilla, and she asks Priscilla if she would take Victoria permanently as her new partner didn't want her. I mean, can you imagine? Now Priscilla declines, but she says she'll take her for the night, giving um Marie time to sort something else out. I don't know. For me, this at this point, this is where you you call the police and social services. Like it's it's so bad. She she's happy to abandon this girl. And whilst Victoria is with um Priscilla, she notices injuries on Victoria, and when she questions Marie Tree, she tells her that these are self-inflicted. So she's abandoning her child, and the child has injuries, and nothing's done about it, nothing is done about it. So the next day, Priscilla's daughter, Avril, so she takes Victoria to see her French teacher. Marie, I think it's Cada, C-A-D-E-R, Marie Cater. Marie advises that Victoria needs to be seen by a doctor. So they go to accident and emergency department at Central Middlesex Hospital. So various injuries are noticed on Victoria, and she says that they are self-inflicted. So Victoria, she's been trained, she's been coached to say that she said that they're self-inflicted. And also, Victoria's not fluent in English. So Victoria, she can speak quite well in French in uh French, but she she can't speak in English, so she won't be understanding what they're saying. And I and I don't even know if she knows what she's saying back to them or whether she just knows those words, you know. Um but the doctors are suspicious and they do alert when police and social services. And Victoria is placed under police protection, preventing her from leaving the hospital for 24 hours. So when Marie Therese arrives, she told the police and doctors that Victoria had scabies and that the injuries are self-inflicted because of the constant itching. The doctors and nurses are still suspicious, but Ruby Schwartz, the named child protection doctor, does diagnose scabies. She later says that this was a mistake. But when the child protection services receive a report of Victoria's injuries, they'd plan to open an investigation, but on hearing Ruby Schwartz's diagnosis of um scabies, she downgrades this. On the 15th of July, Marie Therese and Victoria return home. On the 24th of July 1999, Victoria arrived again at accident and emergency department. So Victoria, she has severe burns to her head, like she's been scolded. And the doctors they actually observe Marie Therese yelling at Victoria so badly that she jumped out of bed in fear and then she wet herself. Now consultant Mary Rosseter says that she felt that this was a sign that Victoria was being abused. But even though she, you know, she said this, she thinks Victoria is being abused, she actually wrote on her notes that Victoria was able to be discharged. Like it's just unbelievable. She said that she's actually said, I think this child's being abused, but she wrote on her notes for her to be discharged. Now, so Enfield Social Services were informed of Victoria and they did look into the case, but then passed it to a Haringay council, a social worker called Lisa Arthurware. Now she was quite new, a new social worker. She was like a junior social worker. Um so Lisa Arthurwary and the police officer Karen Jones were scheduled to make a home visit on the 4th of August, but it was cancelled when they were made aware of Victoria having scabies. I mean, it's just not good enough, is it? Um, so I just sorry, I just have a drink a second. So it's like they can cancel appointments with no questions asked. Like they should just turn up anyway. So they don't go round. I also read that Karen Um Jones, the police officer, was told by the doctors that Victoria had injuries that looked like she'd been hit with a belt buckle. But then she claimed that there was no evidence of child abuse. I don't I don't understand again. It's just a running theme, isn't it? In fact, when I looked at Victoria Columbier's report, so many people let her down. There were so many opportunities to save this this little girl. So Victoria's burn marks, when Marie Therese was questioned by Arthur Warry and Karen Jones, Marie Therese told them that Victoria had poured boiling water over herself to relieve the itching from scabies. And they believed her. And Victoria, she was discharged the next day. So she's sent home again with Marie Therese back to Carl Manning's um flat. And from now, so from now, Marie Therese keeps Victoria away from hospitals. Marie Therese instead decides to turn to the church, and she explains to the pastor that Victoria has demons living inside of her and that her injuries were caused by demons. Sorry, my throat's a bit dry. So you see, what's happening now is she's blaming Victoria. So Victoria's injuries are because of demons. And like Victoria's the problem. So from October 1999 to January 2000, little Victoria was forced to sleep in a bin bag that was duct taped to her, so it was duct taped around her so that so that she would stay inside the bin bag. And she had to sleep in the bathtub every night with no comforts whatsoever. So it was just Victoria in a bin bag in the bath. And this is this is in the middle of winter, so it's absolutely freezing. And this is where she's sleeping, and she's in her own excrement. Manning later said that this was how they were managing Victoria's bed wetting. But Victoria wasn't incontinent before. Before she moved in with Marie III, she wasn't incontinent. Like this is a sign, this is a clear sign that she's a traumatized child. We know she was hit with belt buckles, she was hit with bike chains, hammers, she had cigarettes put out on her. She was so malnourished, she was scolded, she was beaten. And Mannion actually said that it didn't matter how hard he hit her, she wouldn't cry. So we would hit her harder and harder. But she wouldn't cry. Like she's severely traumatized, it's just awful. Now there are photos of Victoria on the internet, a photo of Victoria before, before she left the Ivory Coast, where she's this gorgeous little girl. She's happy, she's smiling, she's bright, she's got this beautiful, bright smile. And then there are other photos of Victoria and her horrendous injuries. Um, she's there's a one photo, it's just horrible, and she's got burn marks all over her face, and one of her eyes is like partially closed. She's got teeth missing, there are scars. What's heartbreaking is that she's smiling, so it's like even with everything that's going on, she's still smiling, and it just shows the sort of little girl that she was. Um, it's just heartbreaking. Uh so we get to February the 24th, 2000. Marie Therese and Carl Manning take an unconscious Victoria to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, where the pastor told them to take her to hospital. Now they call a taxi, and when the taxi picks them up, the taxi driver is so shocked by Victoria's condition that he actually just took them straight to Tottenham Ambulance Station. And this is almost like this is someone finally stepping in. Like he looks at Victoria and he's like, no, no, no. And he takes her to the ambulance station. Uh, the ambulance they rush her to intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital. So Victoria is suffering with multiple organ failure, hypothermia, and severe malnutrition. And she died. So she died the next day on the 25th of February, and it's said that she froze to death. So in that bath, that that's where she died. So oh, it's just horrible. So this little girl, she was so full of life and promise, and there was an ex she was excited on a new adventure and to go to a new country. And then and she died. She was starved, bound, beaten, burned. As I said earlier, she had 128 separate injuries on her body. Marie Therese and Carl Manning were arrested, and they were charged with child cruelty and murder. Marie Therese pled not guilty. Manning pled guilty to child cruelty and manslaughter. And on the 12th of January 2001, they were both found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Now, as you can imagine, there was a huge inquiry into this case. How Victoria Was let down again and again. She was covered in scars and obvious injuries, and doctors said that there were belt buckle marks on her. But they sent her home like out of police protection. Now, social services were severely criticised for the handling of the case. Lisa Arthur made three visits to the flat where she received no answer. So she said to her uh supervisor that she thinks they've gone back to France. It was written on the file that they had left the area, and a week later the case was closed. The inquiry found that many of the counsels involved were understaffed, poorly managed, and underfunded. And after the inquiry, Lord Lamming wrote a final report and found that the agencies involved in Victoria's care had failed to protect her on at least 12 occasions and that her death could have absolutely been prevented. The 400-page report made uh 108 recommendations in the child protection reform. Victoria's death provoked changes in child protection in England, including the Child Protection Act 2004 and Every Child Matters program. But these cases keep happening, and some cases are secretly behind closed doors, but Victoria's wasn't. During her life, she was known to four social services departments and three housing departments. And the police like, how did this happen? So Victoria's body was flown home and she was laid to rest at the uh I think it's as Azeretti Cemetery near her hometown, and she was close to the Atlantic Ocean, and one of the relatives said the sound of the sea would be good for her. Her parents remembered Victoria as a very smart, well-behaved, smiley child, and she was. I want to dedicate this episode to Victoria Columbier. That little girl, she deserves so much better. It's so sad. Oh, it's just another one of these cases, and it's just happening right in front of right in front of them, and nothing's being done about it. And she had severe injuries. Like, if you look at those photos, you couldn't not see them. Like her face is covered in scars. Let me know what you think of this case. There are reports on the internet, and there's other information online if you're curious and you want to know more about her and her life. Um, and like I said, they are the photos. Um, and I think the full report into Victoria's case is on the internet as well. So if you want to find out more, um have a Google. Um, so okay, so thank you everyone for listening. And I like to end by saying in a world where you can be anything, be kind. Take care.