The Welney Website
Lauren Wright - After her death
the anger, the guilt, the questions, the trial, the enquiries.
Shortly after Lauren's death in May 2000, Mrs Sylvia Kent, a neighbour of the Wrights, saw the couple in a local pub. She said Craig looked subdued but Tracey "sat laughing and joking, I just couldn't believe it".
Craig Wright (on right), 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.
The Judge said Lauren Wright was brutally killed after being "let down by every single agency responsible for protecting her" in the months before her death and 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.
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.
After the trial, the parish newsletter, "Welney News" published three items about the tragedy:
Richard Green wrote
"Negative to Positive
I have to confess that I knew nothing of Lauren Wright until after she died. That comes with working outside the village and living over at Suspension Bridge. I have followed the case, as I'm sure you all have, in the national press and on TV and Radio. The one thing that was wholly apparent was that nothing good would be said about anyone involved in the tragedy, whether they were involved directly or not.
The other parts of the story that don't ever make the news are the good things that people did. I know that many people were concerned and that they did raise their concerns. I know that many people did care and did what they could for Lauren. If we had known the outcome before the event we would have done more, but hindsight is always so much clearer than foresight.
All of us make mistakes but most of the time it doesn't affect other people. And most of the time someone will spot the mistakes before the problem gets too big. People did make mistakes, but apart from Craig and Tracy Wright, they did not cause or contribute to Lauren's injuries.
There is an opportunity for us all to learn from this and to take positive action to make our village better. The school and the Board of Governors are taking positive action and we must support them and help where we can, otherwise we will not move forwards."
(Webmaster's note: at the time, Richard was Chairman of Welney Parish Council)
The non-staff Governors at Lauren's school issued a statement
and Holly Goodwin summed up her feelings in a letter and poem.
Norfolk Social Services inquiry
Mrs Gillian Shephard, MP, asked for a public inquiry in a question to Hazel Blears at Westminster hall on 16th Oct 2001.