THE death of a baby who was killed by his mother’s new partner could not have been predicted - but warning signs over the youngster's welfare were missed, a report into the tragedy has found. 

Thirteen-month-old Slater Sharkey suffered serious brain damage when Richard Morgan lost control at the house he shared with the boy’s mother Rachel Peacock at Tantobie, near Stanley, County Durham, in December 2010.

Morgan denied any involvement in Slater’s death but was found guilty of manslaughter and jailed for seven-and-a-half years at Newcastle Crown Court. He is appealing against the conviction.

Peacock, 31, was cleared of allowing Slater's death, but found guilty of child cruelty, relating to her failure to take him to hospital a month before he died after he stopped breathing, despite advice from her GP. She was given a 12-month community order.

The Durham Local Safeguarding Children Board carried out a Serious Case Review following the tragedy and concluded that some warning signs had been missed by the agencies involved in the case when concerns were raised about the youngster.

The review said that an investigation should have been launched when Slater was taken to his GP with breathing problems and had a bruise on his head.

The review report refers to Slater as Child R.

Fran Gosling Thomas, independent chairwoman of Durham LSCB, offered the board’s condolences to the boy’s family.

She said: “The review found that no one involved with the family could have predicted Child R’s death.

“The review highlighted errors regarding recording of information, issues around poor communication and a lack of robust assessment and professional curiosity and challenge by a number of agencies.

“There were broader issues in that Child R’s father and wider family members were not given the opportunity to contribute to assessments in relation to Child R.

“The LSCB has published the Serious Case Review, which details the recommendations for the agencies involved.

“It should be noted that all recommendations and actions have been completed.”

The recommendations include the accurate recording of information and establishing protocols to challenge other agencies’ decisions.