New child cruelty register to be established after Hudgell family campaigning

The move follows campaigning by Paula Hudgell, whose adopted son, Tony, was assaulted by his birth parents.

The register would be established through an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill, which the Government said it expects to table “shortly”.

The Government had indicated in November that it could introduce a register following campaigning by Mrs Hudgell.

Under the change now proposed, parents and caregivers who physically harm children would be more closely monitored by police and face similar restrictions to registered sex offenders, the Home Office said.

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Tony was just 41 days old when Jody Simpson and her partner Anthony Smith attacked him, causing multiple fractures and dislocations, and blunt trauma to the face, leading to organ failure, toxic shock and sepsis.

He was left untreated and in agony for 10 days, and because of the extent of his injuries, both his legs had to be amputated.

Simpson and Smith were jailed for 10 years in 2018.

The register would cover child neglect, child cruelty, abandonment, female genital mutilation (FGM) and infanticide, all of which the Government described as “egregious betrayals of a child’s trust and dependency”.

Those on it would have to tell police if they move house, change their identity, travel abroad or live with children again after serving their sentence.

Sentencing minister, Jake Richards, paid tribute to Mrs Hudgell for her “remarkable fight to ensure no child should go through the life-altering abuse that her son Tony did”.

He added: “Child abusers do not deserve shielding; children do. The Child Cruelty Register will ensure these offenders are visible to the police, allowing authorities to see and act when risks arise.”

Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said: “It is unforgivable that someone who is supposed to take care of a child would hurt them instead.

“We’ve listened to the Hudgells, and to the many families who feel the system hasn’t done enough to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society, and we are taking vital action.

“Whether it be online, on the streets, in schools, or from their own caregivers – children are being kept safer under this government.”

For the Conservatives, shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said: “For months the Conservative Party has argued that those convicted of brutal child cruelty should not be allowed to disappear from the radar of the authorities when their sentence ends.

“Today, the Government has accepted that principle.

“While we will support their amendment, it still does not cover the full range of offences in our original proposals.

“There is further to go and we will continue to press for the change needed.

“A justice system worthy of the name does not lose sight of those who threaten the safety of children.

“Protecting the vulnerable must always come first, and predators must never be able to hide.”

Helen Grant, the shadow solicitor general, said: “It was only when my constituent Paula Hudgell started campaigning that the public became aware of a profound weakness in the law, that individuals convicted of the most serious child cruelty offences are not monitored once their custodial sentence is complete.

“That gap should never have existed.

“We identified it, we campaigned to close it, and I am proud that the Government has now accepted the case we made.”