Safeguarding authorities missed four chances to save the life of a five-year-old boy who was poisoned and beaten to death by his evil mother.
'Remorseless' Claire Scanlon, 39, was given the minimum-term life sentence last year for killing her son Dylan Scanlon on New Year's Eve in 2021.
Paramedics found his badly bruised body on her bed at the house in Oldham, Greater Manchester, and he was pronounced dead three minutes after they arrived.
Pathologists found the boy had 64 separate injuries and nine times the fatal limit of an antidepressant drug mirtazapine in his system, which had been prescribed to his mother.
An independent review has found the response to welfare concerns about how Scanlon was caring for Dylan was 'inadequate', 'ineffective' and highlighted a 'systemic sub-optimal approach to multi-agency working'.
It found there were four missed opportunities to save Dylan with concerns raised for his safety and wellbeing were not followed up on adequately.
- Found crawling along the road alone aged 13-months by a passing social worker
- A dietitian's warning over his health when he was three
- Anonymous caller reported he was seen playing with rats when he was nearly four
- Six months before he was murdered, another anonymous caller told police, social workers and his school he 'always looks dirty' and Scanlon was smoking weed and forgetting to pick him up
The report said concerns over Dylan's care were first raised to Children's Social Care Services when he was found 'crawling unaccompanied along the street of the family home' at just 13-months-old by a passing social worker.
However, Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (Mash) care plan put together after the alarm was raised was found to be 'superficial' and 'lacking any real purpose or ambition' for the little boy.
The review uncovered three other separate occasions when worries regarding Dylan's care were raised.
When he was three-years-old, a dietitian expressed concern that Scanlon 'did not fully understand' her son's health needs - the response to her referral was found the be 'inadequate'.
Just before Dylan turned four, an someone anonymously called Mash to tell the safeguarding authority there were heaps of rubbish outside the family home and Dylan was seen 'playing alongside rats'.
Despite this chilling account, no further action was taken because a health visitor, who had last attended the home three months earlier, said the conditions were good enough - a decision the review has deemed 'misplaced'.
Around six months before Dylan was murdered, another anonymous person called the police, social workers and his school to tell them neighbours were worried for Dylan’s welfare.
The caller said he ‘always looks very dirty, unkempt and the house is filthy’ and Scanlon ‘smoked weed on a daily basis’, often forgetting to pick Dylan up.
However, the innocent child was yet again let down, with the report finding the lack of significant action in response was due to Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and social services both assuming the other was responding.
It added how this misunderstanding ‘seems incredible’ considering the staff concerned were physically located together, meaning it would have been easy for them to check who was actually going to respond.
After Dylan was found dead, Scanlon had told paramedics he had fallen from the ladder to her attic the day before, and she had checked on him every 15 minutes before his death.
But after police arrested her, they found a note saying: 'Don't let them see us, just cremate us,' which prosecutors said showed she'd planned to die alongside him.
Manchester Minshull Court also heard that Scanlon had inherited Huntington's disease, a degenerative and incurable condition which slowly stops part of the brain working, from her mother, which she had called a 'death sentence'.
And while Judge Mrs Justice Yip told Scanlon - who refused to attend the court - this may have affected her behaviour, she said it was no excuse for murdering her son.
Oldham Council described Dylan's murder as 'tragic' and said there had been 'a lot of soul searching and reflection to see what could have been done differently'.
An Oldham Council 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 their thoughts remain with Dylan's loved ones 'who have had to deal with losing him'.
They added: '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.'