Finley Boden: Children’s services express regret over inability to prevent tragic death of baby

Children’s services have issued apologies after a review found safeguarding practice was inadequate in the case of a baby, Finley Boden, who was murdered by his parents shortly after being returned to their care. The children’s agency involved in the decision to return Finley to his parents expressed profound regret, as did the Derby and Derbyshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and Derbyshire County Council. The review identified significant shortcomings in the plans for Finley to be reunited with his parents, despite concerns raised by social services about the couple’s drug use and the condition of their home.

Shannon Marsden and Stephen Boden inflicted 130 injuries on their 10-month-old son, Finley, before he fatally collapsed on Christmas Day 2020. Despite the concerns raised, the family court had decided to return Finley to his parents on November 17, 2020. The review highlighted that Finley “should have been one of the most protected children in the local authority area” and that professional interventions should have prevented his death. The report found that safeguarding practice leading up to his murder was inadequate, with a six-week period where a social worker was off sick and no visits were made to the family, exacerbated by Covid-19 restrictions.

The Family Court order, disclosed last year, showed that magistrates had decided to return Finley to his parents without drug testing them, even though Derbyshire County Council had expressed concerns about their drug use. The review identified significant shortcomings in the plans for reunification, as positive assessments of the parents’ capabilities fell short of an adequate evaluation of the risks to which Finley was exposed. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) expressed regret that they were unable to prevent Finley’s death and blamed the parents’ deception for the tragic outcome.

The county council’s executive director for children’s services, Carol Cammiss, described Finley’s death as a tragedy and acknowledged missed opportunities for stronger practice. Despite the challenges posed by Covid-19 restrictions at the time, the council has taken responsibility for its actions and implemented changes to strengthen their systems. The safeguarding partnership has accepted the review’s recommendations and will take additional action to reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future. The review made 11 recommendations, including carrying out a multi-agency audit of parenting assessments, developing joint protocols with substance misuse services, and ensuring effective local responses to domestic abuse.

The safeguarding partnership emphasized the need to take action based on the recommendations in the report to honor Finley’s memory and reduce the risk of similar incidents in the future. While it cannot be guaranteed that such a case will never happen again, the partnership is committed to implementing the recommendations to significantly reduce the risk. Both the council and the safeguarding partnership have accepted their roles in the failures and are working to improve their practices to provide safe services to all children. Learning from Finley’s case has been embedded in their work, and they remain committed to striving to be the best they can be in protecting vulnerable children and families.