Marie-Thérèse Kouao and Victoria Climbié
Marie-Thérèse Kouao and Victoria Climbié.
Born in Abobo, Côte d’Ivoire, Climbié left the country with her
great-aunt Marie-Thérèse Kouao, a French
citizen, for an education in France, where they travelled, before
arriving in London in April 1999.
On 24 July 1999, Climbié was taken by Kouao to the
accident-and-emergency department at North Middlesex
Hospital with severe scalding to her head and other injuries. The
hospital found no evidence of scabies.
On 24 February 2000, Victoria Climbié was taken
semi-conscious and suffering from hypothermia, multiple
organ
failure and malnutrition, to the local Universal Church of the
Kingdom of God.
After they left, the mini cab driver was horrified
at Climbié's condition and took her straight to the
accident-
and-emergency department at North Middlesex Hospital; she
was then transferred to the intensive-care
unit at St Mary's
Hospital.
The ambulance crew who drove her to St Mary's described
how although Kouao had kept saying, "my baby,
my baby", her
concern seemed "not quite enough", and that Manning seemed "almost
as if he was not
there". Climbié died the following day at 3:15 pm
local time.
The pathologist who examined her body noted 128
separate injuries and scars on her body, and described
it as the
worst case of child abuse she had ever seen; Climbié had been
burnt with cigarettes, tied up for
periods of longer than 24
hours, and hit with bike chains, hammers and wires.
Carl Manning
It is not known exactly when Kouao started
abusing Climbié, although it is suspected to have worsened
when Kouao and Climbié met and moved in with Carl Manning, who became
Kouao's boyfriend.
Francis and Berthe Climbié, parents of murdered eight year-old
girl Victoria.
Berthe and Francis Climbié
Berthe Climbié
Berthe Climbié, Victoria’s mother, rebukes
criticism of her for letting Victoria go with Marie-Therese.
She
explains how the African extended family places much more trust in
relatives than in the West.
She remembers how Marie-Therese held
up a bible and swore on it to convince them.
The victim
