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Introduction

I've told the story of Lauren Wright's tragic life and appaling death on another page. It is the most vile case I've ever had to report.

Six-year-old Lauren was found dead in an upstairs room at her home, 9 Chestnut Avenue, Welney, on 6th May 2000.

Her emaciated frame weighed just two stones and was covered with more than 60 bruises.

This page is about what happened after her death - the anger, the guilt, the questions, the trial, the enquiries.
  Lauren Wright
Lauren aged about 6 looking tired and rather sad

June 2001

More than a year on from her death, Welney is still coming to terms with a tragedy. Only a handful of villagers are willing to discuss the Wrights, and there is a sense of denial in the tiny community where the attentions of the church, the school, social services and the people were not sufficient to stop a child being murdered.

“This whole village has got its head in the sand,” said one inhabitant, who in common with many other villagers did not wish to be named. “Nobody wants to talk about what went on here, but they must have been blind in Chestnut Avenue if they did not see what was happening to that child. She was wandering round like a rag doll but they chose to say nothing.”
Tracey Wright
Tracey Wright, 2001

Oct 2001, trial

Subsequently Lauren's father and stepmother were charged with her death by manslaughter and neglect and in October 2001 went on trial at Norwich Crown. Both denied the charges.

The Judge, David Millar, said Lauren was brutally killed after being "let down by every single agency responsible for protecting her". She had spent the last months of her life in misery and "died a more drawn out and agonising death than that suffered by most victims of murder". In the months before her death Craig Wright ignored his daughter's suffering while spending his time drinking in pubs and cultivating an image of an all-round "good bloke" and turning a blind eye to his wife's spiteful abuse and mistreatment of Lauren.

The court heard of Lauren's last days in early May 2000. She was lying in bed, bruised, battered, dreadfully undernourished and unable to eat or drink due to the collapse of her digestive system caused by brutal blows to her stomach inflicted by her step-mother.

Tracey Wright's son described those fatal blows. "The day Lauren died, I remember mum punching her in the belly two times. I was going to go to the toilet, and I see mummy punch her in the belly two times."

Tracey Wright's counsel Johanna Greenberg told the court that Tracey deserved sympathy because she functioned on the intellectual level of a "primary school child". She also said "feelings among prisoners run high and her time in prison will be particularly difficult and particularly lonely."

Craig Wright
Craig Wright, 2001

Tracey Wright
Tracey Wright, 2001
 Craig Wright's counsel Susan Edwards said her client is constantly haunted by the fact that he should have done more for his daughter. Craig Wright insisted that he had known nothing about Lauren being abused by his wife. He said he trusted Tracey Wright to care for Lauren and had believed her when she explained Lauren's injuries as a result of domestic accidents or playground bullying. The judge described Craig Wright as having "quite extraordinary self-centredness" and said he was "the most inadequate of fathers".

During the sentencing hearing, the judge was told that Tracey Wright was attacked while in prison (believed to be Holloway) and had boiling water poured over her.

After a four week trial, Tracey Wright, then 31, was found guilty of wilful neglect and manslaughter and given a 15 year jail sentence - 10 years for manslaughter and five years for cruelty to run consecutively. She would be eligible for parole after serving half her term.

Craig Wright, then 38, was also found guilty of manslaughter, though there was no evidence that he beat his daughter, and was given a 3 year sentence. He would be released on parole after serving half his term.

After the trial, Acting Chief Superintendent Martin Wright, who headed the investigation into Lauren's death, described Tracey Wright's behaviour as "vile and sadistic. Tracey was clearly the person who inflicted the harm on Lauren."
 

2001 - Social Services statement

Norfolk Social Services admitted that "errors had been made" and there had been a misreading of the situation. Their Director David Wright, said they were misled by the paediatrician who had seen Lauren in March 2000. A bigger mistake was when, after a further inquiry, they failed to visit Lauren immediately. The senior social worker responsible for the fatal misjudgement later resigned and was said to be suicidal.

 

2001 - 'Welney News' articles

After the trial, the parish newsletter, "Welney News" published three items about the tragedy
 

Oct 2001, a question in the House

Our local MP at the time, Mrs Gillian Shephard, asked for a public inquiry in a question to Hazel Blears at Westminster Hall on 16th Oct 2001. A full report from Hansards including comments by other MPs and ministers is also available.
 

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Mar 2002

From The Guardian on-line (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2002/mar/27/childrensservices.NHS

A report into the death of a six-year-old girl who died after being abused and mistreated for more than a year has warned that doctors must take more responsibility in child protection cases to prevent further tragedies.

The review into the care that Lauren Wright, of Welney, Norfolk, received from the NHS found said there had been "a series of errors" by health professionals which culminated in a "failure to safeguard" the little girl.

It found that doctors were over-reliant on other professionals, such as social workers and teachers, to act in child protection cases and called on the royal medical colleges to improve training on the issue.

Paediatricians in particular needed to improve their relations with other agencies, seek second opinions and avoid professional arrogance, the report recommended.

Lauren died at her home in May 2000 after being struck so hard in the stomach that her digestive system collapsed. She had more than 60 bruises on her body and weighed just over two stone.

Her stepmother Tracey Wright, 31, and father Craig Wright, 38, were both jailed last October after being convicted of manslaughter and wilful neglect. Today's report followed an independent review commissioned by the Norfolk health authority, which analysed the care Lauren had received from the NHS.

The review chaired by Barry Capon, a solicitor and former chief executive of Norfolk county council, found evidence of poor practice and poor communication.

Lauren was under the protective umbrella of social workers for much of her short life and social services officials, education and health authority chiefs have already accepted that her death left serious questions to be answered.

"In this case we find the all-too-frequent problem of poor communication," said Mr Capon. "There was also a series of errors or lack of best practice which cumulatively led to the failure to safeguard Lauren. "The health agencies did not give Lauren Wright the best service. If they had, despite all the faults identified by social services, it is most likely that she would have been protected.

"There was poor communication, failure to pursue diagnosis and over-reliance on other professionals to act." Mr Capon said the panel was very concerned by doctors' attitudes towards child protection cases. "Health professionals must not limit their role to the diagnosis or activity of the day. "They must look backwards for all history and follow up afterwards to ensure that what they expect or hope will be done actually happens." Child protection training was essential for all health professionals engaged in services for children, said Mr Capon.

"It is not an optional extra. All key professionals (especially paediatricians) through inter-agency training, peer discussion and second opinions must seek to avoid professional arrogance, accept an advocacy role, consider the history of a case [and] accept a role and responsibility for follow-up and future action." But Mr Capon cautioned that even with the best procedures there was still potential for human error.

"Even if all of our recommendations are adopted and implemented there will inevitably be similar tragic cases like that of Lauren Wright in the future," he said. The review made particular recommendations of training of health professionals, especially paediatricians.

Mr Capon said the panel was asking the Royal College of General Practitioners to look at the concerns expressed about training.

The chairman of the Norfolk health authority, John Alston, said it accepted without reservation the findings and the conclusion of the report and intended to act decisively on its recommendations. "Whilst the review panel has not suggested that any of the clinicians were negligent, nevertheless there were instances of less than best practice and a lack of follow-up. These points need to be addressed," he said.

There were wider issues from this report which needed to be taken seriously and addressed nationally as well as locally, he added. "The review makes it clear that doctors must take more ownership of child protection cases and that will require a rethink by the Royal Colleges and leading professionals."

The Kings Lynn and Wisbech hospitals NHS trust apologised for deficiencies in its services and said it fully accepted the findings and the recommendations of the review. The chief executive, Richard Venning, said: "It is clear from the findings of the independent review that the performance of the health professionals involved in the care of Lauren Wright and the actions of the trust following her death were not as good as they should have been."
  from: https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/child-protection-schools-want-and-need-clear-statutory-requirements-not-freedom-to-do-their-own-thing/
Aug 2013
Concerns arising from the Lauren Wright case produced sections 157 and 175 of the 2002 Education Act, which laid statutory responsibilities on schools and local authorities in relation to the training of teachers and governors in relation to child welfare. The government is currently considering the results of its consultation on amending the requirements. Consistent with its drive to reduce prescription and bureaucracy, government proposes to replace the detailed prescription of section 157 and 175 with more general guidance, setting out the “minimum legal and statutory requirements and beyond that giving schools and further education colleges autonomy to use their own judgment to decide how to keep children safe”. Amongst elements which appear to be excluded from statutory prescription are the requirement to update whole school training every three years, for governors to be trained to understand their duties, and for there to be a nominated governor for child protection.
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