Shot girl shouldn't have been with father

The seven-year-old girl who was shot dead fleeing her father's killer was a ward of court and should never have been with him, it emerged today.

Toni-Ann Byfield should not have been in the company of her father, Bertram, as he was a convicted criminal.

Social services are investigating if Toni-Ann had been placed in the legal guardianship of a relative in London. But a police source said: "We understand that, even if this had been the case, there is no way that she should have been with her father."

The girl was made a ward of court last year in Birmingham and under the terms of the court order was not allowed to associate with Bertram Byfield, who had been in prison for dealing in crack cocaine.

Birmingham City Council said it was reviewing the case to see if there are "lessons to be learned".

A 23-year-old man is today in police custody after being arrested over the shootings, in a Kensal Green London bedsit.

Detectives believe Toni-Ann was killed as she tried to escape the gunman who shot her father.

She died from a single gunshot wound to her back after seeing her 41-year-old father being repeatedly shot.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Coles said: "We assume that she was trying to run away from the gunmen or man who attacked her father. "We have to go along the lines of the fact that she was deliberately killed by someone to make sure she could not be a witness to the crime.

"What is clear is that whoever committed this evil crime went there to do so. Whether they expected the girl to be there is another question."

Police are keeping open minds about the killer's motives, but think the shooting may have originated from a feud in Jamaica or could be connected to an incident last year in which Mr Byfield was shot six times in what was believed to be a "domestic" matter.

The case went to court but

the defendant was acquitted.

Mr Coles confirmed the previous shooting was "one of the lines of inquiry" being pursued.

The shootings may have been drugs-related. Mr Byfield came out of prison in 2001 after a nine-year sentence for supplying crack cocaine.

Toni- Ann had recently arrived in London from Jamaica. Her family situation was described as "complex" by detectives.

Her mother was today told of the tragedy after being tracked down by police in Jamaica.

She was said to be " shattered" by the news and is considering flying to Britain.