NSPCC apologises to Climbie parents

Britain's best-known child protection charity today apologised to the parents of murdered Victoria Climbie for missing a key chance to save their child.

The NSPCC expressed its "profound regret" that more was not done to investigate Victoria's case when she was referred to one of the charity's family centres in Tottenham.

She was not allocated a social worker for nearly a week when it should have been done within 24 hours, and was then virtually ignored for the following seven months until her murder.

Today the charity's most senior figure, chief executive Mary Marsh, issued a personal apology as she appeared at the public inquiry into Victoria's death. As Victoria's parents Berthe and Francis Climbie sat watching, she said: "Both personally, and for the NSPCC, I want to apologise to Victoria and Mr and Mrs Climbie and the rest of their family.

"It is clear that we had an opportunity to help Victoria, it is profoundly to my regret that we did not act in a timely, adequate and appropriate way and this opportunity was lost."

The charity came in for severe criticism earlier in the inquiry, when details of the chaotic conditions at its family centre were revealed. In stark contrast to the NSPCC's slick public image as a highly efficient child-protection charity, the centre was claimed to be little more than a "dumping ground" for problem families referred on by Haringey council.

Communication between the council and the charity was so poor that, in Victoria's case, no proper information about the potential risks she faced - from her great aunt, Marie-Therese Kouao, or Kouao's boyfriend Carl Manning - were ever passed on. Both went on to murder Victoria in February, 2000.

The charity was also accused of handing over tampered casefile documents that removed suggestions that Victoria's case had been shut prior to her death. Ms Marsh denied the accusation, although she admitted the centre had poor record keeping and bad communications with the council, which were now being reviewed.

Ms Marsh was speaking during day one of a two-day hearing of the inquiry in which "interested parties" in the Climbie case give their final submissions to the inquiry.