Kyrell Matthews: Nurse raised concerns for boy, 2, months before brutal murder but social services never visited home

A shocking report from Croydon Council has revealed that “opportunities were missed” to investigate the home life of a toddler who was tragically killed by his mum and her boyfriend. Five months before two-year-old Kyrell Matthews’ death, a nurse had raised concerns over the “extensive” injuries he had received when he was admitted over a fall, but the decision to conduct a home visit was “overturned”.

The young boy from Thornton Heath, was found with 41 rib fractures, internal bleeding and a lacerated liver after paramedics were called to his home on October 20, 2019. The toddler, who has been described as “the most loving little boy”, was pronounced dead at Croydon University Hospital, after medics were unable to sustain a heartbeat. On Friday (March 4), his mum and her boyfriend were convicted by an Old Bailey jury of his killing following a six-week trial.

READ MORE: Heartbreaking videos of Thornton Heath boy, 2, ‘smiling and laughing’ in mum’s arms weeks before murder

Phylesia Shirley, 24, now faces a minimum of 10 years behind bars for manslaughter whilst her former partner, Kemar Brown, 28, will receive life imprisonment for the brutal murder. Jurors had been forced to listen to hours of shocking audio footage which captured Kyrell’s abuse, after his mum had gotten in the habit of recording Brown when he was home in the flat, to see if he was contacting other women.

Instead, she captured the punches and slaps inflicted on her young son, followed by his distressed crying. The family were known to social services, and the report from Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSC) reveals that Kyrell frequently missed GP appointments, had not received the correct immunisations and that “opportunities were missed” to identify Kemar Brown, who had a history of violence, as Shirley’s new partner.

Social services had been involved with Shirley before Kyrell’s birth due to her young age, and after he was born in September 2017, an Early Help Teenage Pregnancy Support Worker met with her after she failed to respond to previous appointments. It was made aware to the Health Visitor that Shirley had a “low mood, was tearful and was feeling unsupported” and despite being referred to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Programme (IAPT), her case was closed as they did not hear back from her.

The Health Visitor visited Kyrell for the final time in mid-December 2017, before the family were transferred to a different GP. Over the next few months, Kyrell would not be brought to receive his immunisations and the CSC were made aware that police had been called to the address in relation to a family dispute. Shirley’s mum and sister were noted as being “worried” about Kyrell’s welfare in April 2018, due to his mum’s mental health problems.

Between January to October 2018, Shirley failed to respond to attempts to work with her, including attempts to notify her of Kyrell’s required immunisations. A social worker who visited her at the end of June noted there were “no immediate safeguarding concerns”, but Shirley failed to respond to several return calls from her GP and she failed to bring Kyrell to a doctor’s appointment in October.

Despite there being a background of alleged domestic abuse, and the GP voicing concerns that immunisations were “overdue”, the CSC closed the case with “no further action”. It is noted in the report that it is not clear if any attempt was made to speak with the Health Visitor or refer for Early Help when making this decision.

From November to April 2019, no agency was involved in the welfare of Kyrell, which is the time period Shirley is believed to have begun her relationship with Kemar Brown. The next point of contact came in May 2019, when Kyrell was rushed by ambulance to hospital with a “head injury and extensive bruising to the side of his head and face”, which was reportedly from a fall. In two differing accounts, Shirley said he had jumped one metre from the sofa to the highchair, but after further tests were done and a second and third opinion obtained, it was suggested “there may have been multiple impacts”.

Despite this, the hospital staff noted Kyrell was prone to “boisterous” behaviour and the view was formed that the injuries were more likely accidental. Shirley mentioned she had not witnessed the incident, but her partner was in the kitchen. This was the first time a new relationship had been disclosed, yet Kemar Brown’s identity was not checked at the time.

A written referral was made to the CSC but failed to reflect the “uncertainty or the seriousness of the current concerns held by medical staff” regarding Kyrell’s injuries. The report notes that a nurse “observed that injuries were extensive for a fall, that Mother was in a new relationship with an unknown male and that even if accidental, the injury should raise concerns regarding lack of supervision as Kyrell was described as highly active”.

A meeting with the nurse, a consultant and a doctor reviewed the case and a “special effort” was made by the nurse to convey her concerns. It was also noted by the CSC that his injuries were “considerable” and it was established that a home visit would be organised and for the hospital to receive background information on the family. Despite this, a Senior Manager in CSC “overturned the decision” after concluding that the threshold for a home visit had not been met.

“The Child and Family Assessment was cancelled as an opinion was formed that it was not proportionate to complete an assessment of need based on the mother’s personal history and on the hospital staff’s ‘professional anxiety’. There was no dialogue with the hospital Safeguarding Team about overturning this decision; nor was the decision to close the referral conveyed back to them,” the report discloses.

By May 2019, no Health Visitor had seen Kyrell since December 2017, despite his family’s problematic history. He was finally seen in June, where he completed his two-year developmental check, which showed he had “significant speech delay” for his age.

Shirley was advised to liaise with a speech and language service, but when the Health Visitor attempted to liaise with CSC a week later, she noted that the case had been closed. The report also reveals that the police failed to complete a routine notification to CSC after they were called to the one-bedroom flat in Thornton Heath in January 2019 following a domestic dispute.

Neighbours had heard Shirley shouting, “stop hitting my face” and had called the emergency services. Kemar Brown had been well-known to the police since 2006 for offences including robbery, assault, affray, possessing weapons, burglary, possessing cannabis, breaching bail conditions and domestic abuse.

He was also assessed by the Probation Service as being a high risk of harm to the public, to rival gang members and to previous or future partners. Despite this being on police records, social services were not informed that he was in contact with Kyrell, and the following day, the toddler missed his follow-up appointment at hospital for his previous head injury.

In August, Brown also told Probation he was in a new relationship which “should have been explored more fully so that relevant checks could be undertaken, given his history, and known risk to prospective partners”.

During this period, Shirley also spoke with the IAPT to say she had “severe symptoms of depression and anxiety”, yet they closed contact when she failed to attend her appointment.

A few weeks later, Kyrell would tragically be pronounced dead after Shirley made an NHS 111 call to report that his body had become “floppy” and that he was unconscious. A post-mortem examination found 41 rib fractures, internal bleeding and a lacerated liver, with his cause of death listed as “blunt force trauma”.

It was established that 39 of the fractures would have occurred on at least five occasions in the weeks leading up to his murder. Audio footage captured from within the flat shows Kyrell being repeatedly slapped and punched, whilst he wails in the background.

Prosecutor Edmund Brown QC told jurors at the Old Bailey that they believed in one audio clip, Kyrell was beaten seven or eight times in the space of 10 seconds. After deliberating for two days, Brown was convicted by the jury of murder, whilst Shirley was found guilty of manslaughter, after previously pleading guilty to allowing the death of a child and allowing physical harm to come to a child.

Croydon Council have drawn a number of conclusions from the review, which sets out the need for a multidisciplinary response to head injuries in young children and that the decision to close the referral “did not take into account wider issues of the context of the injuries”.

It also noted the need for a better understanding of social service programmes, so that young children don’t get lost in the system, and the importance of informing agencies when a referral is not accepted.

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In 2017, a damaging Ofstead report labelled Croydon’s children services as “inadequate” and stated that children were at risk of significant harm due to “widespread and serious failures in the services provided”.

In a statement, Debbie Jones, chair of Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership said: “This was the brutal murder of a very young child. The two people who were supposed to care for and protect him – his mother and her partner – were responsible for his death. As a partnership, we are devastated by his loss and our deepest sympathies are with his family.

“Kyrell’s tragic death highlights the extreme vulnerability of very young children, who are able to be kept hidden from view. Kyrell’s mother received good support during his early infancy, but when he grew older, he did not attend nursery or pre-school, and was often not brought for routine GP appointments. For many months, Kyrell did not come into contact with professionals who might have noted concerns.

“However, there were some opportunities to identify risks to Kyrell, and to be more assertive in engaging and challenging those who were entrusted with his care. We very much regret that these were not taken, and we have made changes to the way we work as a partnership to ensure that together, we do everything in our power we can to protect children like Kyrell.”

Phylesia Shirley was offered the opportunity to contribute to the review, but did not respond. She and Kemar Brown will return to the Old Bailey for sentencing on March 25.

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