THE death of a baby girl at the hands of her depressed mother could not have been predicted or prevented, a serious case review into her death has revealed.

Harley Ruck, who was just four days short of her first birthday, suffered multiple stab wounds inflicted by her mother Jade Ruck, aged 23, at their St David's Road home in Abergavenny in November 2010.

The review, the results of which were announced last week, concluded that despite Jade Ruck being known to various agencies, there was no evidence that baby Harley was at any risk.

"She was a healthy, well cared for child who was meeting her developmental milestones," said the Monmouthshire Local Safeguarding Children Board's serious case review into her death. The review refers to Harley as 'Child A' throughout the document.

The review describes Gwent Police being originally called to the house by an unnamed caller - revealed by the court hearing earlier this month to be Janet Hyde, the baby's grandmother.

She was said to be, 'concerned for the welfare of Child A's mother as she had just spoken to her and she had stated she felt like dying.'

The report added: "As a result of the call the police visited the home and spoke to the mother."

Officers arrived at Ruck's home just before 2am and found her in an emotional and tearful state. She told officers that she had been having trouble sleeping over the previous few nights. The report details that the police officers saw baby Harley "asleep in a well kept, tidy flat".

Support options were discussed and Ruck told officers she would look into it in the morning. Officers returned to the police station to make a referral to social services for a follow-up assessment.

But at 5.34am, just three hours later, Ruck made her own desperate 999 call saying she had stabbed her baby.

When police officers arrived at the flat, baby Harley was found in the communal hallway where unsuccessful attempts were made to save her life.

Following Ruck's subsequent arrested and immediate sectioning under mental health legislation, the Monmouthshire Local Safeguarding Children's Board met on November 25 and agreed a Serious Case Review should be undertaken.

The review panel consisted of a child protection co-ordinator, a nurse from the Aneurin Bevan Health Board, a Gwent Police Detective Inspector and a nurse from Public Health Wales.

The review describes Ruck as an "intelligent, very pleasant and hard-working young woman" who, despite problems growing up with bouts of depression, displayed no indications of behaviour which undermined her abilities as a mother.

Ruck was said to have worked with the supportive agencies and managed her daily life 'reasonably well'.

Both mother and daughter had come to the attention of police and social services on two previous occasions, but none of these raised any issues over Ruck's parenting.

The review indicated that she was "like many young people who had struggled in adolescence and found themselves managing the responsibilities of parenthood at an early age" and added that Ruck's episodes of depression had been treated appropriately and she had been offered further help.

Speaking to The Chronicle last week Simon Burch chairman of the Monmouthshire Local Safeguarding Children's Board said, "Becoming a mother had been the making of Ruck for she was slowly beginning to turn her life around as she accepted that she had a responsibility to look after her daughter."

The review concluded that there "were no prior child protection issues or historical concerns about Ruck's care of Harley, adding that the police response to the first call was "appropriate as there was no evidence to suggest they should be concerned for her immediate welfare."

The review found that the various agencies had shared information on the family appropriately and there was "no evidence to indicate Child A as being in need of protection."

Ruck admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Swansea Crown Court in July. The court heard that Ruck had been an undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenic which had been characterised by delusions and hallucinations in the days leading up to Harley's death. The judge ordered Ruck to be detained in hospital indefinitely.

Mr Burch added: "This report tells us that this tragedy could not have been predicted. It is a very rare situation and concludes that Ruck was a very good mother and she worked well with the health services.

"The child was meeting all of her developmental milestones and everything seemed to be going well until the tragic events of November 20."

"Harley was originally seen by police during the early hours of that day and she was found to be sleeping in a well-kept, tidy flat. Ruck told officers that she had trouble sleeping during the previous few nights, which had left her feeling emotional and tearful.

"But if any of Harley's family members or anybody else had any concerns over Ruck's state of mind, they didn't make contact with any of the relevant agencies alerting us to any problem.

"This independent report is clear that these events could not have been predicted or prevented by any of the services involved.

"Lessons, however small, will have been learnt from this tragedy. We decided that as soon as the court case against Ruck had been concluded was the time to release our findings, as we didn't want the family being left in limbo any longer than necessary.

"Our thoughts are naturally with the family and the rest of the local community at this difficult time.

"I hope now that this is the final chapter in this tragedy and all those affected can now have some form of closure."