Inquiry into death of boy murdered by father (Holbrook, England, United Kingdom)

Weve posted on this case before. As far as I can tell, these double murders committed by dad ANDREW CAIRNS were completely preventable. The authorities f---ed up, that's all.

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/national-news/inquiry_into_death_of_boy_murdered_by_father_1_664081

Inquiry into death of boy murdered by father
Published on Tue Jul 06 15:28:50 BST 2010

An inquiry has been launched into whether the death of a young child stabbed alongside his mother in Derbyshire by her former partner could have been predicted or prevented, a council has confirmed.

Rachael Slack, 38, and her 23-month-old son Auden were murdered by his father, her ex-boyfriend Andrew Cairns, at her home in the village of Holbrook on June 2.

Cairns, 44, from nearby Ripley, then turned the knife on himself as neighbours tried to break into the Victorian cottage.

It was later disclosed that Cairns was detained twice the week before, once under the Mental Health Act, before he was arrested for threatening to kill Miss Slack, an artist.

He was released on police bail and told not to contact his ex, who was three months pregnant by a new boyfriend.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now investigating how Derbyshire Constabulary handled the case. And Derbyshire County Council confirmed a serious case review had been launched into Auden's death.

A spokesman said Derbyshire Safeguarding Children's Board - which includes the county council, police, health services, local councils and voluntary groups that work with children - commissions the probes to look at cases of life-threatening child injuries or deaths.

"These reviews look at all the circumstances and actions taken by the agencies working with a family to see if the situation could have been predicted or prevented and if any lessons can be learned," the spokesman said.

"Independent experts drawn from many specialist fields oversee serious case reviews and report back to the board. A serious case review has been commissioned to look into the death of Auden Slack.

"The board will receive regular updates on the progress of the review and when it is complete it will be sent to the board and the executive summary report will be made public. If the review should find lessons can be learned these will be put into action, and those which are urgent would be put in place before the review is completed."