Coroner: Archie Spriggs' murder by his mother could not have been prevented
The death of seven-year-old Archie Spriggs at the hands of his mother could not have been prevented by any of the authorities involved in his wellbeing, a coroner has ruled.
Despite failings admitted by Shropshire Social Services in a Serious Case Review following Archie’s death, it was found that no action or inaction could have caused or contributed to Lesley Speed’s actions that day.
Archie was murdered at the family home in Wall under Heywood, near Rushbury, Church Stretton, on September 21, 2017, the day Speed had been due to attend a family court hearing as part of an ongoing custody dispute with Archie’s father Matthew Spriggs.
Coverage of the inquest:
Speed was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2018.
The inquest into Archie’s death lasted six days and heard from 16 witnesses including social workers, teachers, Archie’s GP and police officers.
Summing up the evidence, Senior Coroner John Ellery said: “This inquest essentially is about causation, to determine whether Archie’s death could have been preventable.
“This inquest has set out to answer whether there was any state agency failing which reasonably, and without hindsight, could be said to have caused or contributed to Archie’s death.
“I consider the core issues to surround lost opportunities to hear Archie’s voice.”
He said there were two missed opportunities for social workers to meet with Archie, the first being in 2014 over an allegation of sexual abuse.
The second was in the weeks before he died, when a meeting should have been arranged as part of the family court proceedings.
He said: “What Shropshire Council social services could have done and did not do was to actually speak to Archie and hear his voice.”
Mr Ellery said Rushbury Church of England Primary School was not at fault. He said: “My overall impression of the witnesses from Rushbury School was that they were professional and caring and did all they reasonably could for Archie.”
Mr Ellery recorded a ‘short form’ conclusion of unlawful killing, rather than a narrative conclusion which could have named state failings as a contributing factor.
Mr Ellery said: “Having considered all the evidence and recognising the admitted system failings, I don’t believe on the balance of probabilities that they caused or contributed to Archie’s death or that it could have been prevented.
"The harsh truth is that Archie’s death was due to the actions of Lesley Speed and no state agency could have reasonably foreseen or predicted the outcome."
