A serious case review is underway to establish how a heartless mother tricked doctors into carrying out invasive surgery on her children so she could claim hundreds of thousands of pounds in benefits.
The 48-year-old, of Croydon, spent at least a decade deceiving medics into carrying out unnecessary treatment on her young son and daughter, who even had gastronomy tubes fitted to their stomachs despite both being able to eat normally.
She was found guilty of child cruelty and fraud on Monday following a trial at Croydon Crown Court.
The serious case review, to be carried out by Croydon Safeguarding Children Board, will examine the family’s contact with public bodies, including the borough’s NHS trust.
The independent board, made up of health services, the local authority, police and children’s services, will also look at how to prevent similar cases occurring in the future.
A spokesperson for Croydon Health Services NHS Trust said: “This is a highly complex and distressing case and we are pleased that the trial has successfully concluded. “We have been working very closely with the police, the local authority and other health agencies involved for the past three years. “Her children were treated in Croydon, as well as health services across London and the South of England. “The circumstances around how this happened are now subject to a serious case review to understand what future measures could be put in place across all of the organisations to stop this from happening again.”
Over the course of at least 10 years, the selfish mother presented her young son and daughter to various doctors, health and education professionals in Croydon, London and the south of England, maintaining that they suffered from serious health conditions.
The claimed symptoms and complaints included severe asthma, autism, urology problems and gastric complications.
On one occasion, she encouraged her young son to act in a way she thought was consistent with the symptoms of autism and resisted attempts by the child's nursery to toilet-train him.
The children were taken into care by Croydon Council in May 2013.
A council spokesman said: “This was an exceptionally complex case and the police have done a thorough job in gathering and presenting the evidence.
“Immediately this matter came to light we made sure the children received proper care to help them fully recover from their ordeal.”
The Metropolitan Police launched a “complex” three-year investigation into the mother's cruel treatment after a child protection referral in May 2013.
The woman falsely claimed £375,198.02 in disability living allowance and income support benefits.
The woman, who cannot be named to protect the anonymity of her children, was found guilty of four counts of cruelty to a person under 16, two counts of obtaining money transfer by deception, seven counts of making a false representation, and two counts of fraud by false representation.
She will be sentenced on August 15.
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