Police training failures led to little Alfie's death

WATCHDOG HEARS FORCE WAS IN CONTACT WITH FAMILY BEFORE TRAGEDY

- SOPHIE ROBINSON News Reporter

A POLICE force which was repeatedly in contact with the killers of a nine-year-old Midland boy murdered in his home did not sufficiently train officers to identify child abuse, a watchdog has found.

Alfie Steele, of Droitwich, Worcestershire, died in February 2021 after months of "indescribable" cruelty in which he suffered 50 injuries all over his body and his head was held under-water in a bath.

Alfie’s mother, Carla Scott, was jailed for 27 years for manslaughter at Coventry Crown Court in June 2023 and her partner, Dirk Howell, is serving at least 32 years for his murder.

A mandatory referral was made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after the court case.

The watchdog looked at 20 interactions between West Mercia Police and the family between March 2018 and February 2021 but found there was no misconduct"by any individual officer.

The watchdog said a “climate of fear” in the family home meant Alfie was allegedly asleep when the police were called to the property.

It said Alfie’s voice was never heard by police because his mother answered questions on his behalf and found a different officer attended each time and Alfie was never spoken to on his own.

Six months before Alfie was murdered, a neighbour told police they heard a man shouting and someone “thrashing around in the bath”, and said: “Maybe he's being hit and held under the water”.