Stabbed child's mother was assessed

Aug 14 2007



A mother whose toddler was found stabbed to death in her home was assessed by social services last week and allowed to keep the child.

The woman was found with stab wounds next to the body of the girl, believed to be two, in a flat in Barking, east London.

She has been named as Congolese national Ntsimbi Galtricia, 23, by a refugee group who helped her gain access to benefits. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Local people said they had raised concerns for the welfare of the girl after Ms Galtricia was banned from local shops because of her erratic behaviour.

Barking and Dagenham Council confirmed a mental health assessment had been carried out on the woman five days ago. "She was found not to have any mental healthcare issues," a spokeswoman said.

The Community of Congolese Refugees said a woman called Ms Galtricia who lived at the address where the attack took place had visited them several times.

Welfare officer Mwan Kilapi last saw the mother in March. He said he knew nothing of her immigration status or how long she had been in Britain, but confirmed she was from Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.

He said he had helped her gain access to benefits and when he last saw her she did not mention her asylum status. "She seemed okay, not stressed then," Mr Kilapi said.

The dead toddler was named locally as Balthous.

Scotland Yard said it would not confirm the names of the mother or daughter until the girl's father had been traced. It is understood he may be in Paris.

[size=3]Vezz: i just read about this in the Evening standard, and if the facts are true the bloody Doctors and Social Worker who thought she was sane ought to be sacked immediately.... Unbelievable how in the hell with that recent history could they have missed that she was unwell?

That baby is so cute. I don't just friggin' get people these days. She stabbed her child to death. Why? What the hell's going on???

Mental illness is something that we tend to overlook in the community with our propensity not to visit the doctors when we know something is obviously not right.But this girl's story is really lamentable probably was alone in a foreign country and we not sure if she came from war torn Congo some of the stuff that happened there is enough to traumatize anyone and we yet to hear from the father of the tot people we underestimate how difficult it is for a person of ethnicity to adjust to life in Europe and America even those that have been here for hundreds of years still suffer
What a cute child though and what a waste this child could have been saved bloody social services only get hot and bothered about parents spanking their errant kids!!