By ANNA EDWARDS
A mother and her partner kept her four-year-old son locked in a room, denying him food and feeding him salt before battering him to death, a court heard today.
Magdelena Luczak, 27, and her partner Mariusz Krezolek, 33, are accused of assaulting and killing her son Daniel Pelka on March 3 this year.
The couple today pleaded not guilty to murder when they appeared at Birmingham Crown Court.
Daniel Pelka, who died after he was found unconscious at his home, was allegedly locked in a room and fed salt
They also denied child cruelty charges between January 2011 and March this year.
The couple, who listened to proceedings via Polish interpreters, were remanded in custody by Mrs Justice Macur and ordered to return to court for trial on May 1 next year.
The charge sheet states the pair 'wilfully assaulted, ill treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed Daniel Pelak in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury by physically assaulting him, denying him food, locking him in a room and feeding him salt and by failing to obtain prompt medical treatment for him.'
A mother and her partner are accused of battering him to death, a court heard today
Both also faced an individual charge of causing or allowing the death of a child by failing to take reasonable steps to protect him.
Paramedics found Daniel unconscious at the family home in Holbrooks, Coventry, on March 3 this year after Luczak dialled 999.
Despite desperate attempts to save Daniel, he died in hospital.
A post-mortem examination found that the youngster died of a head injury
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2251235/Mother-27-partner-kept-year-old-son-locked-room-fed-SALT-battering-death.html#ixzz2FdRewggp
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As a social worker I want to know what safeguarding procedures were put in place to Daniel at school.
ReplyDeleteMedia reports state that the school where Daniel was attending were aware that he was stealing food, he was thin and appeared emotionally unwell. clear signs of neglect. Did the school raise an alert?
The school obviously overlooked the desperate situation Daniel was in and for this 'heads' should roll. Same old story as usual in the UK...They leave extremely abused children to die! But I guess there will be pathetic excuses.
ReplyDeleteMy heart is broken for Daniel.
I have cried for Daniel ever since I read this story on line. What a precious boy he was. It makes me very angry and depressed that so little was done to save him. Who can imagine the fear and pain he endured? There is, I hope, a special place in Hell for his mother and step-father. Rest in peace Daniel, may you know only love and joy for eternity.
ReplyDeleteI cannot stop thinking about that child, I’m so depressed so sad.
ReplyDeleteI can't find answer how that was even possible. I'm angry with his "parents", very, very angry - I hope they will be send back to Poland straight to prison and will have a taste of a terror they fed him with.
I love you Danielku the same way I love my own kids.
Raf
I cannot understand why the school did not do more, a child stealing food, very little in his lunch box, thin, eating from bins.....and they punish him for stealing and lock everyones lunch boxes away...and speak to his parents....the very people who are doing this to him. what were they thinking..? Why did not they not call the police Child Protection Unit immediately..??? They should be ashamed of themselves, Social Services can only investigate what is reported to them. I too cannot stop thinking about this poor little boy, all the signs were there and the school did nothing that would help, what was ringing the GP going to achieve?? they see children everyday and should be first to spot these things...words fail me, I hope at least his mother and step father are found guilty of murder and go away for a very long time and a review of the schools child protection procedure wouldn't go amiss...!!!
ReplyDeleteI am utterly horrified at the schools actions .... words fail me. this poor little boy was crying out for help and the school punished him for stealing food. Alarm bells or what?? I thought all schools had child protection policys these days. I hope those teachers who failed to report this are hung out to dry. discraceful
ReplyDeleteBeatrice O’Brien, a teaching assistant, said she saw Daniel Pelka reach into a bin in the playground and “pick out either the core of an apple or a pear, and [start] to eat it”.
ReplyDeleteShortly before his death, he felt “like a bag of bone, his skin was ashen".... why the hell did you not do something you stupid women..???
I am appalled by the behaviour of school staff. I am pretty sure that prejudice and racism against Eastern Europeans played a very important role in explaining the indifference of the school and their unwillingness to get to know the family better. From the accounts of the trial it emerges very clearly that all the school staff involved in the case seemed to consider the "anomalies" of the child (eating behaviour, toilet habits, physical appearance) as "normal" for his Eastern European background.
ReplyDelete