Children who were kept in horrific conditions and drowned by their pregnant mother had been visited by social workers more than FIFTY times - but council failed to act

Heavily pregnant Fiona Anderson, 23, jumped to her death in April last year

Police then discovered the bodies of her three children Levina, three, Addy, two, and 11-month-old Kyden at the family home in Lowestoft, Suffolk

A report into the case found social workers visited them dozens of times

It noted that a student social worker was even sent to see the family



The children were forced to survive on biscuits and were 'malnourished'



Levina rarely went to nursery and was given sanitary towels as knickers



But investigation concluded social workers weren't to blame for the deaths



Report: Heavily pregnant Fiona Anderson, 23, was visited by social workers more than 50 times before she drowned her her three children and then jumped to her death from a multi-storey car park

A mother who killed herself after drowning her three children had been visited by social services more than 50 times, a report into the horrifying case has found.



Heavily pregnant Fiona Anderson, 23, jumped to her death off a multi-storey car park in April last year.



Police discovered the bodies of her three children Levina, three, Addy, two, and 11-month-old Kyden, at the family home in Lowestoft, Suffolk, several hours later.



A report carried out by the Suffolk Local Safeguarding Children Board has now revealed the family were visited by officials dozens of times.



The review, which concluded today, revealed the children were neglected by their mother and being forced to survive on just biscuits.

It also found the children spent hours strapped into their pushchairs and strongly criticised 'poor management oversight' and 'inappropriate' decisions by council staff.



But the investigation concluded social workers - including a student who shouldn’t have been sent to deal with such a serious case - were not to blame for the deaths.



The children's father Craig McLelland today called for change to 'prevent this ever happening again'.



He said: 'They have put in the report that social services need to change a lot of things and give more support for people.



'I am just hoping that people get the support now and it is being offered to prevent this ever happening again.'



Concerns about the family stretched back to 2009 when worried social workers tried and failed to force the mother to give up her first child over fears about her mental health.



The report acknowledged this action resulted in the relationship between the family and children’s social care becoming strained.

By June 2010, when Levina was 12 months old, the concerns had diminished sufficiently for formal involvement to cease.



But in May 2011, staff received reports that Levina and Addy had been sleeping in a double pushchair for 13 nights and had only been fed biscuits.



Police and social workers visited the house where they found the children 'malnourished' and trapped in play pens without toys for hours.

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Tragedy: Levina, three, Addy, two, and Kyden, 11 months, who are pictured here with their father Craig McLelland, had been forced to survive on biscuits in the months leading up to their deaths

Victims: Kyden McLelland, 11-months-old, pictured left, and Levina McLelland, three



Innocent: Addy McLelland was just two. He was found dead at the flat with his brother and sister

Levina rarely went to nursery - reportedly because her mother feared the teachers would abuse her. Her attendance was so inconsistent that it was said to be 'like her first time' each day she turned up.



There was also evidence that the young girl was given sanitary towels to use as knickers.



Staff who visited the home also reported that Addy was underweight and 'worryingly passive'.



In late 2011 the two children were put on Child Protection Plans for neglect after workers judged them to be emotionally stunted with poor language skills.



Professionals who met the children said they were 'frozen' in their responses, with a sense of 'learned helplessness'.



Staff were also aware of domestic fights between the parents - on one occasion when the mother was holding one of the children.



When Kyden was born in May 2012 he was included in the Child Protection Plan, the report said.



By August 2012, child protection officers decided to start legal proceedings against the family but a social worker sent to gather evidence failed to report back - so the process stalled.

CCTV shows Fiona Anderson at outside the building complex where the father of her children lived early on the morning that she died

She appeared to try the door at the building which is home to St John's Housing Trust

Thirty seconds later she left the building - less than two hours later her body was found

During January and February last year, there were plans to have a legal strategy meeting 'as a matter of urgency', but this never happened.



The report slammed the decision to send a student social worker to deal with the troubled family, calling it 'most inappropriate in the circumstances'.



It revealed that even after a worried lawyer urged the council to send a more experienced worker to solve the situation, the student was still sent on most visits.



An unannounced Ofsted inspection in July 2010 in the area where the family lived found that cases were 'carried out by unqualified staff or staff who are not yet registered as social workers'.



At the time, the inspector said: 'This practice falls well below expected standards and may place children at risk of inadequate protection'.



The report also said there was a 'failure to collect and collate information and evidence which would demonstrate not only physical neglect but also emotional abuse/neglect'.

Fiona Anderson clutching a teddy bear moments before she fell to her death in Lowestoft

Anderson died from injuries sustained from jumping 40ft from a multi-storey car park

It also said: 'The poor management oversight which allowed such drift to occur with the case from August 2011 to March 2013 was concerning.'



The report also found the mother’s mental health had been assessed before the birth of her first child, but never after she became a mother, despite longstanding concerns.



It identified 13 ‘learning points’, aimed at preventing future tragedies.



But it concluded that staff had been hampered by the mother’s unwillingness to engage with social workers, saying: 'None of the professionals who had worked with the family would have been able to prevent or predict the final tragic outcome.



'There was never any evidence to suggest that the mother would harm herself or the children, and without any letter or definitive statement of intent by the mother, it remains unclear why she took the actions she did.'

Police outside the flat where the three children were found in April last year



The children's tearful father, Craig McLelland, arrives at the home where his three children were found dead with his mother Mandy who comforted him as he lay a balloon and a toy

Teddy bears and flowers were left at the scene by family members and shocked members of the public













