Keith Makin, chairman of Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Board, presents its findings
A mother whose nine-week-old baby died after they slept together on a sofa had already been warned of "the dangers of co-sleeping", a review has found.
The boy - referred to as Baby R in a serious case review, external into his death - died in December 2014 in Northampton.
Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Board said the mother slept with the baby on the sofa so as not to disturb her partner upstairs.
Its review found her other children were victims of "recurring neglect".
The board revealed the father of the first two of her five children - who did not live with the mother - had repeatedly raised concerns about his children's welfare.
'Children at risk'
They attended school in dirty and damp clothes, smelled of urine, had repeated bouts of head lice infestations and sometimes said they had not been given breakfast.
On one occasion, the board said, one of the children "was observed to be picking food off the school dining hall floor" but staff decided that did not indicate hunger.
The board revealed the father of the first two her five children had repeatedly raised concerns about his children's welfare.
"These incidents raise serious questions as to the level of understanding school staff had of the indicators of neglect, the need to listen seriously to children and for appropriate action to be taken," the board's report said.
"The school's actions and 'good intentions' in what they saw as helping the children not to be ostracised by their peers, were misguided.
"By deciding that the situation could be dealt with 'in house' the school negated their responsibilities to ensure that safeguarding children concerns were referred to the statutory authority."
The board said the mother, who was obese and had epilepsy, had not engaged with health services and thereby "knowingly put herself and her children at risk".
She had been warned of the danger of co-sleeping with her baby which, it said "led to Child R's tragic death".
A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: "In terms of the siblings, at the point when concerns about the children were reported to us, there was nothing to suggest our involvement was needed at that stage.
"Unfortunately, we weren't involved later on when intervention may have been needed for the welfare of the siblings."
- Published28 October 2015
