'Chances missed' to save Oldham boy Dylan Scanlon murdered by mum
Dylan was found dead with nine times the fatal limit of the antidepressant mirtazapine, which had been prescribed to his mother. He had also suffered more than 30 "non-accidental injuries".Scanlon, 39, was jailed for life in July 2023 and told she would have to serve at least 18 years in prison.Her trial heard she had earlier sent abusive messages to Dylan's father, Gary Keenan, saying he would not see him again.An independent review said Oldham's Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (Mash) missed a series of opportunities to intervene effectively in Dylan's care.The report found the response to welfare concerns about how Scanlon was caring for Dylan was "inadequate" and "ineffective" and highlighted a "systemic sub-optimal approach to multi-agency working".
The investigation said concerns about Dylan's care were first highlighted to Children's Social Care Services was when he was 13 months old and found "crawling unaccompanied along the street of the family home" by a passing social worker.However, a subsequent Mash care plan was found to be "superficial" and "lacking any real purpose or ambition" for the child.The review highlighted three other occasions when concerns were raised about Dylan's care.When Dylan was three, a dietician was worried that Scanlon "did not fully understand" her son's health needs. There was an "inadequate response" to that referral, according to the report.An anonymous phone call was made to Mash when Dylan was about to turn four.The caller said there were piles of rubbish outside the family home and that Dylan was "playing alongside rats".
A health visitor, who had last visited three months earlier, said the home conditions were good enough and no further action was taken. The review said this decision was "misplaced".About six months before he was murdered, another anonymous caller raised concerns to police, Dylan's school and social workers.The caller said neighbours were worried about Dylan's welfare, saying that he "always looks very dirty, unkempt and the house is filthy". The caller also said Scanlon "smoked weed on a daily basis" and often forgot to pick Dylan up.The report found the lack of significant action in response to the call was because Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and social services both thought the other was responding.It said this misunderstanding "seems incredible" considering the staff concerned were physically located together.
'Terrible reminder'
Oldham Council said Dylan's death was "tragic" and that there had been "a lot of soul searching and reflection to see what could have been done differently".A spokesperson said: "Oldham Children's Services and the safeguarding partnership are now in a much different place compared to 2021. Our processes for keeping children safe were reviewed at the time and have been improved."This of course is not making us complacent. Cases like Dylan's are a terrible reminder of why we commit to continually improving and challenging ourselves, and hold each other to the highest standards of care."A GMP spokesperson said the force's thoughts remained with Dylan's loved ones "who have had to deal with losing him over four years ago"."We recognise and regret the failures that have been highlighted in the review, particularly the issue regarding communication with partners. This has been addressed and effective partnership working remains a firm focus."Protecting children is our top priority in Greater Manchester and we work closely with all our local partners to keep children safe."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Now that even South Park is mocking Trump over Epstein, he knows he's facing a scandal he can't control: ANDREW NEIL
Donald Trump touched down in Scotland last night, the controversy swirling around the so-called ' Jeffrey Epstein files' in such hot pursuit that it threatens to disturb what is essentially a five-day golfing holiday and plunge him into something of a pickle. The President's MAGA base of true believers refuses to accept the official reasons why the files on the late notorious paedophile can't be made public.
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
SARAH VINE: The reason so many of us feel at the end of our tether is that the political class have never let us have a truly honest debate about mass immigration
When 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, armed with a 20cm long chef's knife, walked into a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and began stabbing teachers and little girls, he not only took the lives of three innocents – six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar. He also triggered a groundswell of resentment, confusion and anger that, one year on, has not abated. The resulting riots, fuelled by misinformation and, in particular, the erroneous assumption that Rudakubana was an asylum seeker (he was not, although his parents had come to Britain from Rwanda), exposed an ugly streak of anti-immigrant feeling.
BBC News
5 minutes ago
- BBC News
Gregg Wallace: Ex-MasterChef host 'sorry' but says he's 'not a groper'
Former MasterChef host Gregg Wallace has said he is "so sorry" to anyone he hurt, but insisted that he is "not a groper, a sex pest or a flasher".In a new interview with The Sun, the TV presenter also defended his sacked co-host John Torode, saying he is "not a racist".Wallace was sacked earlier this month after a report upheld 45 allegations about his behaviour on the programme, including one of unwelcome physical contact and three of being in a state of was also axed after a claim against him using "an extremely offensive racist term" was upheld. He has said he has "no recollection" of the incident. The inquiry, conducted by an independent law firm, was ordered by MasterChef's production company Banijay in the wake of a BBC News investigation last year, which first revealed claims of misconduct against then, more than 50 people have come forward to BBC News with claims against include allegations he groped one MasterChef worker at a wrap party and pulled his trousers down in front of another. Gregg Wallace sacked as 50 more people make claims Wallace faces backlash over autism defence MasterChef crisis: Wallace and Torode were 'never friends' Wallace 'sorry' after 45 claims against him upheld The majority of substantiated claims against Wallace related to inappropriate sexual language and humour, but also culturally insensitive or racist his first interview since being sacked, the presenter acknowledged that he had said things that "offended people, that weren't socially acceptable and perhaps they felt too intimidated or nervous to say anything at the time."I understand that now - and to anyone I have hurt, I am so sorry."He indicated his background was to blame for those comments, as a former greengrocer from Peckham working in an environment that was "jovial and crude".But he added: "I'm not a groper. People think I've been taking my trousers down and exposing myself - I am not a flasher."People think I'm a sex pest. I am not."Wallace said that one of the upheld claims against him related to a widely reported incident in which he had allegedly walked around MasterChef's set naked with a sock on his that incident, he said that there were no contestants on set, and just four of his friends from the show outside his dressing room door."I was getting changed to go to a black tie event, a charity event. I put my bow tie on and my shirt. It's only them outside the door. I put the sock on, opened the door, went, 'Wahey!' and shut the door again."The people interviewed were either amused or bemused. Nobody was distressed," he claimed. Autism defence Ahead of the report's publication earlier this month, Wallace posted a now-deleted statement on Instagram in which he appeared to link the misconduct allegations he was facing to his recent autism led to a backlash from charities and groups working with disabled people. One charity told BBC News that autism is "not a free pass for bad behaviour", while other groups warned that such remarks risked stigmatising the autistic his interview on Friday night, Wallace spoke again about his diagnosis, saying: "I know I struggle to read people. I know people find me weird. Autism is a disability, a registered disability."He also repeated a claim that he "never [wears] pants", saying: "It's not sexualised. It's hypersensitivity - that happens with autism." Last week, Wallace's co-host Torode was sacked after an allegation of using a severely offensive racist term was News has since revealed that the alleged incident took place on the set of MasterChef in has said any racist language is "wholly unacceptable".Addressing the claim against his co-host, Wallace said: "I've known John for 30 years and he is not a racist."And as evidence of that, I'll show you the incredible diversity of the people that he has championed, MasterChef winners, over the years. There is no way that man is a racist. No way. And my sympathies go out to John because I don't want anybody to go through what I've been through."But he added that he had unfollowed Torode and his wife Lisa Faulkner on social media, saying: "We never really did get on that well."We're two very, very different characters."Earlier this week, the BBC announced that a new series of MasterChef, which was recorded before Wallace and Torode were sacked, will still be broadcast as planned, on BBC One and of the women who came forward with claims against Wallace have said they did not think the new series should be former MasterChef worker, who claims he groped her, told BBC News the decision to go ahead showed "a blatant disregard for the people who have come forward".The BBC said it had taken the decision "after careful consideration and consultation with the contestants".It added it has not yet taken a decision on what to do with the completed celebrity series and Christmas special.
