Family deaths were 'unpreventable'

The deaths of a mother and her son when she jumped from rocks on Dartmoor in Devon could not have been prevented, a report has found.

Katherine Hooper, 24, and Joshua Patterson, 5, died after falling 80ft (24m) at Haytor in July 2013.

An official report into the deaths found social services could not have done anything to prevent the tragedy but admitted "gaps in the system".

The body of Ms Hooper's son Samuel, aged 2, was found at the family home.

The coroner at the inquest held in Torquay in September 2014, found Ms Hooper took her own life, Joshua was unlawfully killed and recorded an open verdict on Samuel.

Pathologists have been unable to establish the cause of Samuel's death, despite a post-mortem examination.

Management scrutiny

A report by Torbay Safeguarding Children Board said there was no evidence to suggest action by social services would have led to a different outcome.

It said even friends and family saw no signs that could have warned what was about to happen.

Some contributors to the report said the mother feared her children might be taken back into care.

The report also highlighted issues raised over management scrutiny and different services not working as closely together as they should.

Vanessa Ford, interim director of nursing and practice at Devon Partnership NHS Trust, said: "The safeguarding board concludes that these deaths could not have been avoided and that all of the agencies involved were doing their best for a family they cared about.

"While this is true, it is clear that there were gaps in the system.

"We continue to work hard with GPs, the police and other health and social care providers in Torbay to address these gaps and to minimise the chances of anything like this happening again."

Family deaths were 'unpreventable'

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