Daniel Pelka
Four-year-old Daniel Pelka was starved and beaten to death by his mother and stepfather in Coventry, England. He had been so hungry he stole food from bins at school. Multiple agencies failed to protect him.
On March 3, 2012, four-year-old Daniel Pelka was brought to Coventry hospital by his mother Magdalena Luczak and stepfather Mariusz Krezolek. He had an unsurvivable head injury and died the same day.
Daniel, who had been born in Poland, had been systematically starved and beaten over a prolonged period. At death, he weighed just under 24 pounds—half the expected weight for a child his age.
Teachers reported that Daniel scavenged food from school bins, stole other children's lunches, and appeared emaciated. Despite multiple contacts with professionals, no effective intervention occurred.
Luczak and Krezolek were convicted of murder in 2013 and sentenced to minimum terms of 30 years each. A serious case review found 'collective failure' by agencies. Luczak was found dead in prison in 2015.
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