Parents to blame for big rise in child murders

A record number of children was murdered in Britain last year. New Home Office figures show a total of 143 children and teenagers were unlawfully killed, a rise of more than 40 per cent on the previous 12 months.

Children's charities last night described the level of homicides as a "national scandal". The Home Office admitted they were of "great concern". The NSPCC accused the Government of failing to implement measures to reduce the rate of child killings, which have been rising since records were first kept in the 1970s and are now thought to be the highest in Europe.

A combination of factors is being blamed, ranging from marital breakdown to a shortage of health visitors. Many babies are killed when their mothers become unable to cope under stress. Last year 65 children under seven – most of them babies under the age of one – were unlawfully killed in the UK, an increase of almost 50 per cent on the previous 12 months. Most were killed by their parents.

The new figures come in the wake of a series of high-profile children's deaths. These include the torture and murder of Victoria Climbié and the manslaughter of Joshua Osborne, the eight-month-old baby shaken to death by his childminder Linda Bayfield, who was jailed on Friday for three years and nine months.

The number of teenage homicide victims has also risen sharply. Last year there were 52 such deaths, a rise of almost 45 per cent. But, unlike younger children, teenagers are more likely to be killed by strangers or other teenagers.

The NSPCC is gathering a dossier of child killings as part of its attempt to put infanticide on the political agenda. The charity wants to set up child death review teams to investigate all suspicious deaths and an independent children's commissioner to oversee public inquiries into children's deaths. Mary Marsh, NSPCC director, said: "It's almost as if we accept this as a national quota. Yet it doesn't have to be this way. Many other European countries have far lower rates of infant homicide.

"The NSPCC believes the Government could develop a strategy to cut the rate of child killings by half in 10 years."

A Home Office spokesman said: "We have got no specific reason for [the rise]. The levels are of great concern. The situation is being closely monitored."

The new figures were revealed in an answer to a parliamentary question by Bob Russell, the Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester. Mr Russell said: "This rise is cause for grave concern. It seems to me – as a consequence of a decline in the social services budget – more children at risk will suffer injury and death."

The rise in babies' unlawful deaths may in part be related to a steady decline in number of health visitors. Jackie Carnell, director of the health visitors association, said there was a 40 per cent staff vacancy rate in some of the most deprived areas of London. She said financial pressures had led to a huge reduction in home visits. "Health visiting is a long-term investment," she said. "They prevent things going wrong early on. But it's also an easy service to chip away at."

* Detectives investigating global paedophile networks believe they are close to solving dozens of cases involving missing children. Detectives in the UK's National Crime Squad and Interpol are to reopen files on hundreds of children.

The police will cross-check photographs against a computer database of three million pictures seized during operations to break up international child pornography rings. The operation will use new facial recognition software where, for the first time, computers can match up children's images, account for ageing and even match them with photographs of siblings.

Up to 25 children have been missing in the UK for at least three years, according to the Missing Persons Helpline.