Social services blamed after girl's body found in canal

Relatives of a girl aged five who disappeared three months ago have called for a public inquiry into the role of social workers after a child's body was found in a canal on Tuesday.

Danielle Reid, from Inverness, was reported missing by an anxious family member on New Year's Eve but was last seen in public in October, when her teachers were told she was moving schools.

The remains of a child were discovered wrapped in a weighted white canvas bag in the frozen waters of the city's Muirtown Basin, part of the Caledonian Canal.

Yesterday, forensic scientists continued to search the terraced house where Danielle was living with her mother, Tracy Reid, and Ms Reid's boyfriend, Lee Gaytor, since moving to the Highlands capital from Elgin in the summer.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that relatives of the child had raised concerns months ago. Nick Gordon, Danielle's great-uncle, said he had contacted Highland Council social workers to express his fears about the child. "I believe that if the social services had acted, things might have been different," Mr Gordon said yesterday at his home in Llanbryde, Moray. "We told them Danielle hadn't been to school since October but they didn't go round until nearly Christmas and didn't go back after they found nobody at home. I believe they must share some of the responsibility."

Police fear Danielle may have been dead by the time concerns had been raised because they have yet to confirm a sighting of the blue-eyed, fair-haired child after 9 October.

The girl was enrolled at Crown Primary School in Inverness in August but left in October when teachers were told she was going to a new school in Manchester.

Only after police became involved last week was it discovered that the "new school" had no knowledge of the five-year-old. A spokesman for Highland Council said yesterday that he could not comment on the case while police inquiries were still continuing. But he did say that it was standard practice in Scotland for a pupil's new school to contact their previous one for the child's records.

"There is no legal obligation on parents to provide information on a pupil's new school, and there is no provision in the system to cope with a case where there may be no receiving school," he said.

A police spokesman said a post-mortem examination was under way and would provide formal identification for the body. He added that the exact cause of death was unknown.

Tracy Reid, 24, Lee Gaytor, 25, and his brother, Christopher Gaytor, 22, were charged on Wednesday with attempting to pervert the course of justice in connection with the death. They made no plea or declaration and were remanded in custody to reappear at Inverness Sheriff Court next week.

David Stewart, the MP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, backed demands for a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the girl's disappearance.

"I would like to see a full inquiry into the circumstances surrounding this case," the former social worker said. "We need to ensure that in the future there are never circumstances again when it looks like a child is being lost in the system."

Arthur McCourt, the chief executive of the Highland Council, said the authority would be liaising closely with the Northern Constabulary in relation to the investigation. "There will be a full review of any contacts the council had with Danielle," he said. "All information that the council has on these contacts will be passed to the police. It would be inappropriate to comment further, given that this matter is now sub judice."