Acts of God
Baby P - who's to blame?
An important part of
our culture has disappeared. Exactly when, I'm not sure; but it now
seems no longer possible to attribute disasters to that convient
catch-all category of Acts of God. No. Someone must be blamed.
This is, in many cases,
a backward step.
Nothing so
gut-wrenchingly demonstrates this as the murder of Baby P at the
hands of those who should have been caring for him. Already much of
what has been written about this case is at best well-meaning
clap-trap and at worst diabolically unhelpful recommendations
masquerading as potential explanations.
The facts are horribly
unavoidable. Baby P was tortured and murdered by adults whose
actions cannot be accounted for rationally. Biologically we are
programmed to protect and nurture babies. Our own off-spring
certainly, but in a wider sense we are drawn to see every baby as
something to be cherished. That's why we find these cases so
alarming. We have no comprehension or understanding of the motives
or actions of the perpetrators and this makes us rightly disturbed.
When the Director of
Children's Services in Haringey seemed to say that this tragedy was
chiefly the fault of the adults who killed the baby, she was
pilloried in the media and, I expect, in many living rooms across the
country. But, in some respects, she was right.
In a gentler more
accepting time this tragedy might have been termed (no matter how
obscene it may sound) as an Act of God.
Traditionally this
terminology has been used when tragedies happen without the direct
cause being some human action. We walk to the shop to get a
newspaper. The pilot of a light aircraft flying overhead opens the
window and, as he leans out, accidentally drops his clipboard. The
clipboard hurtles earthward and strikes us on the back of the neck as
we stop to tie our shoe – decapitating us in the process. An Act
of God because the process by which we become an ex-person is only
casually related to the acts of the people involved. Traditionally,
society would adjudge that no-one is to blame. It is an Act of God.
Unfortunately,
now-a-days our surviving spouse would be encouraged to ring Injury
Lawyers For You and sue the pilot (he should have followed Health and
Safety Guidelines and had the clipboard on a string tied around his
neck), the aircraft manufacturer (they should have made it impossible
to open the aircraft window sufficiently to drop a clipboard out of
it), the CAA (they should never have certified such an aircraft in
the first place), Uncle Tom Cobley and all. It's the compensation
culture gone mad.
What's worse, this kind
of culture colours how we look at the tragedy of Baby P.
Now, of course, the
aircraft and Baby P are not exactly the same. No matter how
rapacious the solicitors for the wife of our unfortunate late
newspaper buying friend it seems unlikely that the court would award
damages. Unlikely, perhaps – but not unheard of.
Example: “A teacher
collected £14,000 in compensation for injuries suffered when she
toppled off a toilet seat at a primary school.
The woman dislocated her hip when she fell off the
under-sized bowl that was designed for use by children aged under
eleven.
Liverpool City Council paid £12,958 to settle out
of court her claim for compensation that was back by the National
Union of Teachers and details emerged in the union's annual report.”
“Lancashire education
bosses have been hit by more than a hundred compensation claims after
children were injured in the playground.
A catalogue of
accidents such as youngsters slipping or falling in the school-yard,
trapping fingers or being hit by swinging doors have led to 114
claims against Lancashire County Council over the past five years.
In total, 24 were
successful, with County Hall paying out £105,596 in compensation.
It is estimated that much more has been paid out in legal fees to
"ambulance chasing" lawyers.
Headteachers told the
Evening Post pupils suffering injuries during a football match,
staff walking into doors and youngsters scraping their knees in the
school playground have all led to claims being made.
Fractures after
falling off school walls, or injuries from slipping in canteens have
also led to claims.
But one MP said the
startling figures suggest many of the claims are spurious, with
little or no evidence to back them up.
And today community
leaders and teachers predicted the growing "no win, no fee"
compensation culture would spark an explosion in future claims.”
Perhaps there is more
hope for our now husband-less wifely clipboard survivor than you
thought.
Before you switch off,
dear reader, I confess that the Baby P case is not much like the
supersonic clipboard. Paby P was killed by adults who (and you may
find this hard to believe) were convicted of “causing or allowing
his death”. That is to say they were not even tried for or
convicted of murder. The implication here is clear: there are some
features of this case that we just don't know about. Some features
that may move the case uncomfortably more towards the Act of God than
the murder of a toddler.
However uncomfortable,
this needs to be addressed.
Last
word to the Telegraph – who report:
The
mother of Baby P, the toddler who died after a catalogue of horrific
abuse, has given birth to another child in jail and wants access to
the baby, according to reports.
This
is not normal and certainly Baby P's mother should not be allowed to
have any children with her. Ever.