Thousands sign online petition demanding a law forcing teachers to take action if they suspect a child is being abused.
Thousands of people have backed a campaign calling on the law to be changed to protect vulnerable children like Daniel Pelka. Campaigners want a “good Samaritan” law which would make it illegal for teachers not to step in if they suspected a pupil was being mistreated. Already more than 3,000 people have signed a petition supporting “Daniel’s Law”.
Paula Barrow, from Manchester, set up the petition after being deeply affected by the Coventry schoolboy’s story.
The mother-of-two said: “I’m not looking to blame anyone – I just want to do something that may prevent this happening again. “There must be something we can do. I know there’s a law in France because photographers were prosecuted for not helping when Princess Diana died. “I did some research and there are 35 countries with a similar law and that number is growing.
“A law needs to be introduced to make it mandatory for teachers to go to social services or the police when they suspect that a child is being mistreated.” Teachers at Little Heath Primary School in Foleshill, where Daniel was a reception pupil, have come under fire since it emerged that they spotted that the youngster with two black eyes and bruises around his neck. The observations were made in the months before Daniel died.
The first time teacher Lisa Godfrey spotted bruises she noted it in a concerns book. In February, less than a month before Daniel was brutally beaten and left for dead by his mother and stepfather, the same teacher spotted that he had black eyes and bruising around his nose. She went to headteacher Darren Clews who spoke to another pupil who suggested Daniel had been pushed over at school.
Both Mr Clews and Miss Godfrey decided that Luczak should be confronted about the injury, but because Miss Godfrey wasn’t on door duty Daniel left without any questions being asked. Both Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Coventry North West MP Geoffrey have asked why teachers didn’t step in to help when starving Daniel was spotted scavenging for food in bins around the school. So far more than 3,000 people have signed the petition calling for a change in the law. Paula said: “I knew it would attract interest and I think if more people knew about it there would be an even greater response.
“There’s a real appetite to stop something like this happening again. If this legal obligation existed it would simplify everything. As soon as there is a suspicion that a child is being mistreated there should be no hesitation.” Under Paula’s proposal a teacher who fails to step in and help a child could be committing a crime. In other countries where similar laws exist failing to step in and help can be punished with a prison sentence. The good Samaritan is also granted immunity from prosecution if their efforts make the situation worse.
Daniel’s mother Magdalena Luczak and stepfather Mariusz Krezolek were both found guilty of the four-year-old’s murder and jailed for 30 years.
To sign the petition go to www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/change-the-law-to-better-protect-vulnerable-children-like-daniel-pelka.
A fund set up to raise money in memory of Daniel has already raised more than £8,000. So far 523 people have made donations.
Taken from the Coventry Telegraph
