Police Conduct investigation into murder of nine year-old boy
Alfie Steele died at his home in Droitwich in February 2021
Last updated 24th Jun 2025
An investigation into how West Mercia Police responded to concerns about a nine year-old boy who was murdered has found no indication that any officers had breached professional standards.
But the Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation did find that the force did not sufficiently train frontline officers to identify child abuse
Alfie Steele died at his home in Droitwich in February 2021 after repeatedly being abused. His mother, Carla Scott, was found guilty of manslaughter and her partner, Dirk Howell, was convicted of murder in June 2023.
The pair had a significant amount of contact with WMP in the years before Alfie died. After the court case concluded, the force made a mandatory referral to the IOPC in relation to that prior contact.
During the course of the investigation , they examined 20 separate incidents where the force had interactions with Alfie, his mother or her partner, between March 2018 and February 2021, which were repeatedly about welfare concerns reported by worried neighbours and eyewitnesses
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “First and foremost, my thoughts and sympathies remain with Alfie’s family and everyone affected by his tragic and shocking death.
“Our investigation has been painstakingly thorough, examining hundreds of documents, spanning the years that West Mercia Police had contact with Alfie, his mother and her partner. It is important to note that in most of the incidents, officers did take some positive action and children’s services were appropriately made aware of every single police attendance. Many other concerns, not shared with the police, were dealt with at local authority level.
“We found no indication of misconduct by any individual officer, but we recommended that eight police constables and two PCSOs undertake reflective practice to review how they handled interactions concerning Alfie. In our view, when called to the home, officers should have found a way to speak to Alfie without other adults being present, in line with best practice. On some occasions officers lacked professional curiosity and could have undertaken further enquiries.
“There was a culture of fear within the household which, when coupled with lockdown, severely reduced Alfie’s world. There were few opportunities for Alfie to feel safe enough to make a disclosure to professionals about what was happening within the family home. Carla Scott contributed greatly by failing to safeguard him and failing to put his safety and wellbeing before her loyalty to her partner.
“In that cruel environment, Alfie appears to have had to adopt extreme compliance, evidenced by him being in bed allegedly asleep on many of the occasions the police were called, sometimes within a short time of a reported incident.
“It is reassuring that West Mercia Police have committed to ensuring that everyone who works in the force knows Alfie’s story. We have been advised that since we began our investigation, the force has trained hundreds more officers in relation to ensuring that children do have a voice regarding any report about the welfare of a child.”