Report Found Mariam Alam’s Death Could Not Have Been Prevented or Predicted
A case review into the death of a toddler from Coventry has concluded that the death could neither have been prevented nor predicted.
Three-year-old Mariam Alam, of Fisher Road, Foleshill, died due to a serious head injury in November 2011.
The toddler had been in the care of Kamran Khalid, who lived opposite Mariam, when she suffered the head injury, which Kamran said had been the result of a fall from a child’s table.
When Mariam suffered the injury, Kamran returned her to her mother Saima Bashir’s home instead of calling the paramedics.
It was nine minutes after Mariam first received the injury that the ambulance was called.
Police were unable to examine the child’s table as Saima donated the item to a charity shop which threw the table away.
Three people, including Saima, were sentenced for perverting the course of Justice last February in connection with the toddler’s death.
Kamran Khalid, who had originally faced a murder charge, had the charge dropped and was charged with child neglect instead.
Author of an overview report into the tragedy, Mark Dalton, wrote: “There is nothing known about this family that marks them out from tens and possibly hundreds of similar families in the city.
“The family were given the same level of service that thousands of other families receive from community health.
“This review has prompted a scrutiny of the services that are available and how they are offered.
“In hindsight it seems that an argument could be made for describing the mother as socially isolated; although this is not a problem she ever complained of or was seriously considered by those who worked with her.
“On the contrary, where this was ever commented on by the professionals involved with her it is in terms of mother being supported by her extended family.
“However her social isolation may have been the reason for her reliance on the neighbour and her allowing her child to spend extended time within his care.”
He added: “The responsibility for the child’s death remains with the neighbour as she received the fatal injuries whilst in his care.
“Therefore, unless any intervention could be conceived that would have prevented this neighbour having care of the child, the death cannot be considered either preventable or avoidable.”
