Were double child deaths in Stafford avoidable, council asks

It was too early to say if a local authority could have done anything to prevent the deaths of two children, a committee has heard.

Meraj Ul Zahra, aged two, and three-year-old Abdul Momin Alfaateh died after being found injured at a house in Stafford on Sunday, 12 October.

A 43-year-old woman from the Stafford area, who is related to the children, was arrested on suspicion of murder and has since been detained after being assessed by medical professionals, Staffordshire Police said.

A safeguarding and education overview and scrutiny committee meeting at Staffordshire County Council heard it could not ask for information on the case, as both police and other investigations are continuing.

A minute’s silence was held in memory of the children.

Baswich ward councillor Ann Edgeller asked if there was any action the authority could have taken to help avoid their deaths.

“At this point we are not able to ask for any information on that because there are police investigations and other investigations ongoing,” scrutiny and support officer Helen Phillips said.

Once the appropriate reviews had taken place, she said, the council would look to ask for information to better understand better what happened and if there was anything it could put in place to prevent similar incidents in future.

“Until they have done the appropriate investigations they won’t know if there were gaps,” she said.

The incident has been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).