THE MISSED CHANCES TO SAVE DYLAN

When Dylan Scanlon's mother Claire was jailed for his murder, uncomfortable questions were raised about what authorities knew in the months prior and what action was taken. Amid scattered details from the trial about the involvement of social services, the council said it could not comment pending the publication of a full child safeguarding practice review. The report detailing the findings of that review has now been made public. Amy Walker reports.

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DYLAN Scanlon, dead at just five years old, was failed. Murdered by his mother, having been beaten and poisoned, the case shocked Greater Manchester.

The tragedy was recounted in painful detail as Claire Scanlon went on trial. Jurors were told Dylan was found unresponsive before neighbours and family members attempted in vain to resuscitate him on New Year's Eve 2021.

He had 60 bruises to his head, face and body and nine times the fatal dose of the antidepressant mirtazapine, prescribed to his mother, in his system.

Scanlon said her son fell down a set of stepladders at their home on Oldham’s Limeside estate, and that he had been ‘running around with the dog’ 20 minutes earlier.

The 38-year-old was arrested and later detained under the Mental Health Act. She told staff at Edenfield Hospital: “I killed my son.”

Scanlon was later jailed for 18 years having been found guilty of Dylan’s murder.

The trial laid bare the fractured relationship between Scanlon and her ex-partner. Dylan spent the final weeks of his life miserable, caught in the middle of a bitter parental rift.

The trial also revealed concerns about Dylan’s care had been reported and that social services were involved. The jury was told that in September 2020, a concerned neighbour called the council - anonymously - reporting that he looked ‘gaunt and grey; as though he was being ‘starved’

The following June, the same person called again saying the family’s garden was ‘overrun with rats’ and rubbish. Another neighbour said she was worried as she hadn't seen Dylan playing outside ‘all summer’

He had been referred to a school for children with special educational needs, but his mother hadn't arranged an assessment and Dylan skipped the last two days of term. He was last seen by neighbours the day before he died. Dylan had been with his mum to the corner shop. There were no signs he had been hurt.