The Parole Board has announced that the Haringey Child Killer, Carl Manning, implicated in the death of eight-year-old Victoria Climbie, shall remain incarcerated.
In 2000, Victoria was brutally murdered by her great-aunt Marie Therese Kouao and her accomplice, Carl Manning, marking one of the most egregious instances of child abuse in Britain.
The Parole Board determined not to release Carl Manning, now in his 50s, from incarceration or to transfer him to an open prison following a hearing on September 11.
The board stated in a decision summary: “Upon evaluating the circumstances of his offences, the advancements achieved during incarceration, and the evidence provided at the hearing, the panel concluded that releasing him at this time would not ensure public safety.”
Victoria was dispatched to Europe by her parents, who aspired for her to have a superior education than that available in her native Ivory Coast.
Victoria would be compelled to slumber imprisoned within a black refuse bag containing her own faeces in an unheated loo.
They inflicted burns with cigarettes, scalded her with boiling water, deprived her of food, restrained her for almost 24 hours, and assaulted her with bike chains, hammers, cables, shoes, belt buckles, coat hangers, wooden spoons, and their bare hands.
Whenever she was provided with food, she was compelled to consume it in a manner like a dog.
At times, the pair would toss food at her, prompting her to catch it with her mouth.
She was consistently restrained, unclothed, and confined in a frigid bathroom within a dilapidated flat in Haringey, East London.
Upon her death in February 2000, she weighed merely 3 stone 10 pounds and exhibited 128 distinct injuries on her body.
Victoria had been observed by numerous social workers, nurses, physicians, and law enforcement officials, yet they failed to identify and prevent the abuse.
Kouao and Carl Manning were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Victoria in 2001 following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Carl Manning received a minimum sentence of 21 years for murder and eight years for child cruelty, to be served consecutively.
The most recent hearing constituted his third review for release following the Parole Board’s denials in 2021 and 2023.
The panel was informed that Carl Manning “consistently refused” to cooperate with expert evaluations while incarcerated, and officials deemed that insufficient information existed regarding the murderer and the factors that influenced his behaviour and thought processes.
The summary indicated that he had completed recognised programs in prison to improve his decision-making and mitigate his use of violence.
The panel remarked on the cruelty, torture, and neglect endured by the victim, which culminated in her death.
“It is considered the offence to be of the utmost gravity and that there was a sadistic element in addition to extreme punishment.
“In the absence of professional assessments of Mr Carl Manning, the panel concluded that there were too many gaps in the understanding of his risk.”
Victoria’s death led to a huge public inquiry and a series of safeguarding initiatives, including a national action plan to tackle faith or belief-based child abuse, which was launched in 2012.
In 2002, former bus driver Carl Manning gave evidence to the public inquiry and apologised to Victoria’s parents for his part in her “sickening” death.
The inquiry chaired by Lord Laming found there were at least 12 missed chances to save her and made more than 100 recommendations to the government to reform the system.
Carl Manning will be eligible for another parole review in about two years.
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