Child care services probed after Poppy Widdison death

Child protection services in England will be investigated following the death of a four-year-old girl who was force-fed drugs.

Poppy Widdison died in hospital in June 2013 after collapsing at her home in Grimsby.

Her mother, Michala Pyke, 38, and her ex-partner John Rytting, 40, were jailed for 13 years for child cruelty.

Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield will review when officials should intervene in child protection cases.

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She said there were "tragic failures" in Poppy's case and "multiple risk factors including drug addiction, domestic violence" in the case "should have led professionals to draw up a child protection plan".

North East Lincolnshire Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) said actions recommended in a serious case review were being monitored.

The trial at Hull Crown Court heard Pyke, of Ladysmith Road, and Rytting, of Frederick Street, encouraged the girl to eat sedatives because they felt she was an inconvenience to their relationship.

A post-mortem examination could not establish a cause of death, but toxicology tests found she had ingested significant amounts of heroin and methadone for a period of between two and six months before her death.

The review into Poppy's death found agencies missed several chances to protect her.

Ms Lonfield said an Ofsted inspection into social services a year before Poppy's death also highlighted a low ratio of child protection plans to open cases in the area.

"Tragically, failure to apply appropriate thresholds for intervention meant that Poppy was left unprotected from cruelty and ultimate death.

"Over the next year I shall be investigating the variable application of child protection thresholds around the country and making recommendations," she added.

Rob Mayall, from the LSCB, said: "[We] will continue to monitor the implementation of actions from the serious case review to ensure the chances of a repeat of this sort of tragedy are reduced as much as is possible."