Star Hobson’s death officially included in Arthur Labinjo-Hughes review

Sixteen-month-old Star died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Keighley, West Yorkshire, on 22 September 2020.

Her mother's partner Savannah Brockhill, 28, was jailed for life over her murder and her mother Frankie Smith was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and sentenced to twelve years in prison.

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Details surrounding Star’s life and death were initially set to “feed into” a national review launched over the murder of six-year-old Arthur, from Solihull, at the hands of his stepmother in June 2020.

The Department for Education yesterday (February 9) updated the review’s terms of reference to include a full investigation into Star’s murder.

The document sets out plans to establish what happened to both Star and Arthur “during their lives and explore agency involvement with all those charged with caring for them”. 

It also calls on the review to “evaluate how agencies acted to safeguard Arthur and Star and what factors enabled or limited their ability to protect them from the profound and ultimately fatal abuse and neglect that they suffered”.

The review is expected to be published in May, according to the updated document.

A Local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, launched by Bradford City Council, into Star’s death has been delayed indefinitely due to a “mass of evidence” surrounding the case.

Chair of The Bradford Partnership Jane Booth told the BBC last week: “We know that not being able to publish the review in January is disappointing, particularly for the family and friends of Star but we owe it to Star to make sure that the findings of the review take account of all the facts that emerged during the trial.

"We will announce a new publication date in due course."