Climbie Enquiry: Officers in the child protection team alerted to Victoria Climbie's plight were overworked, under-resourced, poorly trained and considered the 'Cinderella' of the police force.

DI Michael Anderson, who headed both Brent and Harrow's Child Protection Teams at the time of the child's referral from social services, admitted the expression was in common use in the Metropolitan Police, adding: "It is only recently that we have started moving on from that."

The department also had the highest number of new cases in 1999 in north west London at an average of two a week and needed at least four extra officers to cope.

But the officer revealed it was difficult to persuade trained detectives to join CPTs.

"Even now there are a number of officers who still think that the Child Protection Team is the unit which goes round and gives talks in schools about stranger dangers and so on," said the officer, who has now retired.

Eight-year-old Victoria was taken to Central Middlesex Hospital in July 1999, seven months before her death at the hands of Marie-Therese Kouao and her boyfriend Carl Manning. Both were jailed for life in February this year.

Fears that her injuries were caused by abuse resulted in her being placed under a police protection order. But this was lifted the next day following a discussion between the investigating officer, DC Rachel Dewar, and Brent social worker, Michelle Hines, after paediatrician consultant, Dr Ruby Schwartz's diagnosis that scabies caused Victoria's scratches.

The doctor later told the inquiry, chaired by Lord Laming, she had expected further investigation into bruises on her body.

However, DI Anderson retorted: "Dr Schwartz may be saying now that she said only some of the marks were caused by scabies. The indications given both to social services and to police at the time were that all marks on Victoria's body were from scabies."

November 15, 2001 12:00