Child deaths by assault: will appalling brutality spur on reviews to fix a failing system?

Public policy faces crucial challenge in wake of cases of torture, neglect and killings of defenceless children in Britain

It may seem as if the UK is undergoing a exceptional run of child deaths: in December the horrific cases of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes, and Star Hobson came to light through the courts, followed by that of Kyrell Matthews in March, and now another appalling tragedy, five-year-old Logan Mwangi.

Have child deaths by assault and neglect become more common? UK data suggests one child a week is killed in the UK on average, according to the NSPCC, and this has changed little over the last five years. All deaths are devastating and sad but most are barely heard of; only a handful, like these, achieve public and media notoriety.