Daniel Pelka

Eryk Pełka, Daniel's biological father, took his family, and his partner Magdalena Łuczak and her child, to the United Kingdom from their native Poland at the end of 2005.

Daniel was born in Coventry, England, on 15 July 2007.

Eryk remained with the family until the end of 2008.

In addition to direct concerns about Daniel, social services had been visiting the family since 2008, due to serious domestic violence against Łuczak by Krężołek.

However, she said she could protect her children, and Daniel was never interviewed directly.

In 2010, Mariusz Krężołek moved in with Łuczak.

He was residing in the household at the time of Daniel's death.

In 2010, a health visitor noticed a bruise to the side of Daniel's head, but was told he had sustained the bruise from falling over.

The following January, he was taken to A&E with a broken arm, and was also seen to have multiple bruises.

This was assessed by social services, but the doctor who Saw Daniel claimed that the fracture could have been caused by an accident.

In November of the same year, Daniel's school became concerned about his stealing food from other pupils, and eating an unusual amount of the free fruit available.

Łuczak had previously told medical professionals that Daniel would raid the fridge at night, and would punch his stepfather when he wasn't given food.

A social worker had recommended that Daniel be given a snack on the way to school.

By the end of 2011, his school attendance was only 63%.

Despite this low rate of school attendance, between November 2011 and February 2012, various injuries to Daniel's head and neck were noted on five separate occasions by three different adults.

None of these instances was reported to the police or social services.

The murder of Daniel Pełka, aged 4, occurred on 3 March 2012 in Coventry, England, United Kingdom.

By the start of 2012, the school was raising concerns that Daniel was obsessed with food, and was eating out of rubbish bins.

On one occasion, he ate half of a teacher's birthday cake which was intended for the whole class.

On another occasion he wanted to eat "muddy and dirty" pancakes which had been on the floor.

His lunchbox would typically contain half a slice of bread with ham in and a drink, and also some loose crisps in a bag.

Eventually he got a full sandwich and never failed to finish his lunch.

After the school holidays, Daniel showed visible signs of weight loss.

One teacher saw fingerprint bruising around Daniel's neck, and staff had also noticed multiple facial bruises.

On 10 February 2012, he was seen by Dr. Chakraborthy after having lost weight.

The doctor issued a prescription for worms, and said he appeared thin, but not wasting away.

On 28 February, Daniel was observed as being "pasty" with "sunken eyes", and not interacting with other children.

People continued to notice his eating out of bins, including on 1 March, the day he would receive the beating that caused his death.

Daniel died on 3 March 2012.

Two days earlier, as a punishment for wetting himself, the child had been beaten severely.

Łuczak did a Google search for "care – patient in a coma" as well as salt poisoning on the morning of 2 March.

Krężołek dissuaded Łuczak from calling an ambulance, stating that Daniel would "get over it", and that calling for help would "cause proper problems."

At 03:07 GMT on the morning of 3 March, a 999 call was made in which Łuczak stated that her son was not breathing.

Paramedics arrived and took him to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 03:50.

The autopsy revealed 22 different injuries, ten of which were to the head.

A diagram detailing these injuries was released by West Midlands Police and shown widely in the media.

His mother, Magdalena Łuczak (27), and her partner, Mariusz Krężołek (33), were found guilty of the murder on 31 July 2013.

Daniel's death made headlines for months, as it was evident that a number of opportunities had been missed to identify him as suffering severe child abuse.

On 2 August 2013, both Łuczak and Krężołek were jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 30 years each.

However, both perpetrators died in prison within three years of being sentenced, with Łuczak committing suicide, and Krężołek dying from a heart attack.