Forgive me, pleads Climbie chief

The chief social worker whose team allowed Victoria Climbie to be beaten and tortured to death begged the eight-year-old's parents for forgiveness today.

In a written plea to Victoria's parents, Francis and Berthe, Carole Baptiste said she regretted that the girl's cries for help went unheeded.

Giving evidence to the public inquiry after being prosecuted for her earlier failure to appear, Ms Baptiste, 39, said: "Please forgive me if at any time you have felt that I have frustrated or hindered the inquiry. Because I am a parent, I understand only too well that answers are needed.

"I regret that Victoria's voice was not heard and nobody will fully understand the pain she suffered. I can only hope that the contribution that I have subsequently made will help to prevent another child's death."

But part of Ms Baptiste's "personal note" to Victoria's parents appears to be more concerned with her own problems.

She told them: "I have known so much sadness in my own life. I have found it difficult to find the words to convey my sadness and sorrow and even as I try and think of what I want to say, I am crying."

She added: "I have known so much sorrow from this entire experience, so I know what it is like to experience loss, albeit temporary."

Miss Baptiste - who was led into the inquiry wearing a black leather coat with pink scarf, black gloves and a black felt hat, all of which she kept on while giving evidence - said: "Whatever you may think about my non-appearance at the inquiry to date, you have both been in my thoughts, and the sadness that you may be feeling within your hearts, I feel within mine."

She said she had been unwell and had spent time "coming to terms" with her ailment.

Ms Baptiste, who was a manager at the North Tottenham district office of Haringey social services, allegedly ignored two summonses and repeated requests to explain her role in the events leading to Victoria's death.

She failed to appear at the public inquiry on 3 December and is being prosecuted under Section 250 of the Local Government Act, 1972. She has pleaded not guilty. Ms Baptiste has been severely criticised by colleagues who had given evidence to the inquiry so far.

She has been accused of spending her time talking about God and her experiences as a black woman, rather than looking after the interests of the vulnerable.

She is also said to have failed to provide sufficient supervision of the child's social worker, Lisa Arthurworrey.

Many of the supervision sessions she had with the young social worker were merely chats in corridors. Today, while shouldering some of the responsibility, she said everyone was to blame. While she insisted that a mental breakdown had left her with "memory loss", she said Ms Arthurworrey did not keep her fully informed.

She said a fax from the North Middlesex Hospital misled her about the cause of injuries suffered by Victoria, adding: "I was unable during that time to obtain a full picture of either the physical or emotional abuse of Victoria, which I now know occurred."

She added: "I acknowledge that in terms of overall responsibility I ought to have looked at Victoria's full case file more thoroughly. I should have insisted that I had the full picture.

"I deeply regret any contribution that I may have had in what happened to Victoria.

"I do not seek to avoid my part in what occurred and it saddens me to see that others have sought to do so."

Victoria had 128 injuries on her body when she died in February 2000. Her great-aunt Marie-Therese Kouao, 44, and Kouao's boyfriend Carl Manning, 28, were both jailed for life for murder last year.

The hearing continues.