This episode contains distressing themes and descriptions of abuse.

This podcast is intended for a mature audience.

Listener caution is advised.

In December 2017, Birmingham was hit by a storm that left up to 12 inches of snow on the ground, forcing schools to shut and public transport to grind to a halt. Temperatures had

been dropping rapidly, and people across the West Midlands

brace themselves for a brutally cold winter. Two weeks earlier amidst a cold snap in the city,

the discovery of a vulnerable child's body outside a house in Nietzschells raise questions about the efficiency

of the UK's child protective services.

He was saying some things to people that we should all have heard and listened to and acted on more swiftly and with greater urgency.

This death of Hakeem was preventable.

None of the professionals involved had a full shared picture

of Hakeem's lived experience, what life was like for Hakeem.

They must keep in focus all the time

that it is the well-being and safety of the child that is their responsibility

and not allow the adults to divert their attention onto other matters.

Welcome to Season 8, Episode 42 of They Walk Among Us, a podcast dedicated to UK True Crime.

It hit 2 degrees Celsius on the morning of November 26, 2017.

Timothy Busk was outside his home on Cook Street in Nietzsche's, when he noticed someone lying

on the grass in his back garden.

It took a few seconds for his mind to register what he was seeing, but there was no

mistaking it was a person, a small crumpled figure.

A child, a dark-haired young boy in pyjamas, was curled up clasping a frozen leaf.

...