Baby P chief 'will never work again'

The former head of children’s services at Haringey Council has been financially ruined after being sacked over the Baby P case and will never work again, her lawyer told the High Court yesterday.

Sharon Shoesmith is seeking a judicial review of her dismissal without compensation by Haringey in December after a damning report from government inspectors lambasted the management of the London authority’s child protection services.

The council had acted a week after Schools Secretary Ed Balls removed her from her post.

Ms Shoesmith, 56, maintains that Haringey, Mr Balls and government inspectors at Ofsted acted unfairly and beyond their powers over her dismissal.

Her lawyer James Maurici said Mr Balls had effectively convicted his client “with no opportunity whatever to be heard”, the Press Association reported.

“As matters stand, the simple fact is the claimant will never work again. She has been financially ruined and her health has been very seriously affected,” he said as Ms Shoesmith sat beside him in court.

Ms Shoesmith became the focus of public anger after initially defending her department over failings that led to the death of 17-month-old Peter Connelly – at first only known as Baby P.

The child died in August 2007 after suffering more than 40 injuries during a campaign of abuse at his home, despite being on Haringey’s “at risk” register and having had 60 visits from care workers.

Ms Shoesmith applied for a judicial review in March after failing to get councillors to overturn her dismissal, and has also lodged a claim for unfair dismissal with an employment tribunal.

Dr Maurici said Ms Shoesmith had been “deeply shocked and saddened” over the toddler’s death.

He said the heart of Ms Shoesmith’s case was “whether a public authority – or public authorities – can exercise powers to end a person’s career without affording them a hearing”.

He said that Mr Balls had made it clear that he expected Haringey to get on with what was to be “the mere formality” of dismissing Ms Shoesmith.

He said she had not been allowed to give feedback to inspectors before they delivered their damning report to Mr Balls, contrary to normal Ofsted arrangements.

Ofsted inspectors had believed the minister did not want them to seek her feedback, Dr Maurici said.

But an evidence statement produced last week on Mr Balls’s behalf indicated this had not been his intention, the lawyer added.

“The fact is, two public authorities have been at fundamental cross-purposes. As a result, my client’s career has been brought to an end in an unfair way.”

The hearing is expected to last three days.