Police send message to family of Sheffield teenager Samuel Baker after ‘catalogue of errors’ before his death

Samuel Baker, aged 15, was stabbed to death in Lowedges in May 2018 with a blade he had been carrying himself.

Another boy, who himself was 15 at the time of the attack, was jailed for two years and eight months, after admitting manslaughter.

At an inquest into Samuel’s death, heard in Sheffield this week, Coroner David Urpeth said that there ‘numerous missed opportunities’ by South Yorkshire Police and agencies run by Sheffield City Council to intervene and try and help the teen before he died as result of his involvement in crime.

Mr Urpeth said: “There was a ‘catalogue of serious failures by state agencies under the auspices of both Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Police’ to protect Samuel when it was abundantly clear that he required intervention, support and protection.”

Samuel moved to Sheffield from Bermuda at the age of 11 in summer 2014 as his mother fled from her abusive ex-partner.

His behaviour was said to have deteriorated as he missed significant periods of education when he was unable to get a place at school, and following the death of his older sister in a house fire in 2015.

Samuel began mixing with older people involved in criminal activity on the streets and was dealt with by the police for incidents including violence incidents and drugs.

He was also prosecuted carrying an imitation firearm.

Samuel was reported missing from home on a number of occasions.

The inquest determined that Samuel’s involvement in criminality was a factor which played a role in him ultimately becoming involved in the street fight in which he was fatally stabbed.

The coroner said South Yorkshire Police ‘effectively treated Samuel solely as an offender as opposed to what he should have been treated as, which was a vulnerable teenager with serious safeguarding needs’.

Referring to both the police force and Sheffield Council, Mr Urpeth added: “Samuel was undoubtedly let down by the organisations that could have and should have protected him. His death is a tragedy for him and for those he left behind.”

In response to the inquest findings, Assistant Chief Constable Tim Forber said: “The loss of a young person’s life, especially in circumstances such as these, is always tragic, and our thoughts remain with Sam’s family and friends.

“As a force we continually work hard to learn and improve wherever we can, and since the Serious Case Review into this matter was published in November 2020 we have implemented the recommendations that were made. As noted by the coroner, significant steps have been taken to improve the situation in South Yorkshire Police.

“We have also invested heavily in tacking knife crime through the introduction of our Serious Violent Crime Taskforce, our neighbourhood policing teams are growing as we recruit more officers and the processes we follow relating to missing persons investigations are more robust, with dedicated missing from home officers for each of our districts.”

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