Safeguarding e-Bulletin – 14th March 2019
Oxford Street Terror Attack Foiled
A 27-year-old man has been jailed last week for planning an attack on the UK's busiest shopping street. The investigation led by Counter Terrorism Police resulted in Lewis Ludlow being sentenced at the Old Bailey to life, serving a minimum of 15 years before consideration for parole.
Police had evidence of Ludlow pledging allegiance to Daesh recorded on a mobile phone which he had tried to dispose of by throwing in a storm drain. In the recovered mobile phone video footage Ludlow stated "we (Daesh) love death as much as you love life".
In footage released by Counter-Terrorism Policing UK on Twitter, Ludlow is seen to be scoping out and taking photographs on Oxford Street, where he planned to hire a vehicle and drive it into the crowds. However, officers from Counter-Terrorism Policing South East were watching as he carried out his reconnaissance of potential sites. Ludlow was being monitored by counter-terrorism detectives after his passport was confiscated when he attempted to travel to the Philippines, where he had been sending money to fund terrorist activity.
Police are urging the public to be vigilant and support the ACT campaign (Action Counters Terrorism) by reporting any suspicious behaviour to gov.uk/ACT or 0800 789 321.
Landmark FGM Sentence
The 37-year-old Ugandan mother, the first person in the UK to be convicted of female genital mutilation, has been jailed for eleven years with an additional two-year sentence for the possession of indecent images and extreme pornography. During sentencing, Mrs Justice Whipple described the mother's act of FGM as "a barbaric and sickening crime".
The woman, who cannot be named to safeguard the 3-year-old victim, enlisted another woman (whom she referred to as a "witch") to mutilate her daughter at their east London home in 2017. Suffering severe bleeding, the 3-year-old was taken to hospital where her mother claimed the child had fallen from a work surface onto a cupboard door whilst trying to reach biscuits. However, during surgery the consultant surgeon found three separate sites of injury typical of Type 2 FGM, which involves the mutilation of the clitoris and removal of the labia minora.
Her former partner was cleared of involvement in the FGM offence however, following a guilty plea to two charges of possession of an indecent image of a child and two charges of possessing extreme pornography, he was sentenced to eleven months in prison, which he has already served on remand.
A police search of the family home found evidence described as "spells, curses and witchcraft" which included two cow tongues bound in wire with embedded nails and a blunt knife. Police also found limes and fruit containing the names of police officers, doctors, the director of public prosecutions and the social worker assigned to the case, thought to be a bid to silence them. While there are no direct links between FGM and witchcraft, cases attributing witchcraft have been documented. Examples include grinding up the female genitals in rituals to promote fertility or wealth, using FGM to rid a girl deemed a witch of a curse or naming the victim as a witch if death occurs during or following the act of FGM.
FGM
Despite previous delays, The Children Act 1989 (Amendment) (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill had its third reading in the House of Commons this week. The amendments agreed state that proceedings under Section 5A of, and Schedule 2 to, the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 are family proceedings.
This is a small but important change to the Act which rectifies an omission in existing child protection law and enables the Family Courts to direct Local Authorities to make interim care orders under the Children Act 1989 in child cases relating to FGM. (Such powers already exist for other types of abuse e.g. Forced Marriage).
Legal Action following Parsons Green Bombing
The foster parents of a teenager jailed for life for the Parsons Green tube train bombing are suing Surrey County Council for negligence, claiming they were not told about his terrorist past. The couple claim that the council did not inform them that the teenager, in a January 2016 immigration review, had admitted he had been trained to kill by the Islamic State terrorist group.
The teenager, Ahmed Hassan, received a life sentence aged 18 last year after being found guilty of planting a bomb in September 2017 on a tube train at Parsons Green. The bomb, made by Hassan, partially exploded injuring 51 people. Hassan, an Iraqi national, had previously been identified as an Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC) in October 2015 and taken into the care of Surrey County Council.
Following the trial, Surrey County Council stopped the couple, who previously fostered 269 children over a 47-year period and were awarded MBEs in 2010, from fostering. This action has resulted in the couple also claiming that their right to a family life, under the Human Rights Act, has been breached. The couple are also taking the legal action to ensure that other foster carers are made aware of serious concerns about young people being placed with them.
The letter to Rt Hon Yvette Cooper, Chair of the Home Office Affairs Select Committee, following the Parsons Green Review said: "There was an apparent lack of formal, documented plan to manage and mitigate Ahmed Hassan's vulnerabilities and associated risks." The committee also recommended all social care staff and managers should receive training around radicalisation.
A Surrey County Council spokesman said: "We are defending this claim. However, we acknowledge this has been a very difficult time for Mr and Mrs Jones and their family".
Ofsted research- knife crime
Ofsted have published Safeguarding children and young people in education from knife crime, which outlines findings of research carried out in 29 schools, colleges and pupil referral units (PRUs) in London.
Read our Safeguarding Director Sam Preston's comments on the report findings.
Please do let us know what you think of the e-Bulletin:
e-bulletin@ssslearning.co.uk
Please feel free to share our e-Bulletin. We are passionate about the role we play in safeguarding children and the more people that know about it the better. They can sign up to our Thursday safeguarding e-Bulletin by clicking here.
Here are the relevant online courses we provide that relate to this article:
Find out about our Safeguarding Suite .
SSS Learning Safeguarding Director