Linda Bayfield, 54, from Addiscombe in south London, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to go to jail for three years and nine months for shaking to death eight-month-old Joshua Osborne in July 2000. Last month she was convicted of the manslaughter of the infant, having been initially charged with his murder.
An Ofsted spokeswoman said its Early Years Directorate had de-registered Linda Bayfield last week. 'She received her notice of cancellation on 15 January. She can appeal, but it is doubtful that that will happen.' Mrs Bayfield's childminding history had been outlined in an independent report into Joshua's death. The report, The Circumstances surrounding the death of Baby X, published last month, was compiled by the NSPCC on behalf of Croydon Area Child Protection Committee (ACPC).
It found that between 1980 and 1992 Croydon social services had received nine complaints about Mrs Bayfield's care of children, the majority of complaints being about 'inappropriate chastisement'. The report also told how Croydon social services had attempted to de-register Mrs Bayfield in 1986 following an alleged assault on a child she was minding. But the council failed, due to a failed criminal prosecution and a lack of evidence, and Mrs Bayfield was re-registered under the Children Act 1989.
The report noted, 'Since 1992 there were no incidents or complaints about the childminder that gave any grave cause for concern.' But it made 11 recommendations regarding Ofsted's role in the registration and inspection of childminders, including:
* All complaints about childminders and their outcome should be logged on file and made available to parents.
* Annual inspections of childminders should be made available to parents.
* Critical incidents/complaints sheets should be placed in the front of childminders' files. In the event of a further incident the pattern and nature of concerns would be clearly available.
* Unannounced visits by inspectors should be mandatory.
* A medical questionnaire should be submitted annually by a childminder's GP, with specific questions about whether any medi-cation or conditions could affect the number of children minded.
* Any assessment or inspection of a childminder must take into account their history and not be solely based on information provided during the assessment.
Mike Tomlinson, Ofsted's chief inspector, said that any lessons learned from this case would be applied across England. He pledged, 'I will do everything within the powers given me by Parliament to help make sure that all persons caring for children are suitable to do so.' On Monday, Joshua's parents, Libby and Ken Osborne, joined the NSPCC in calling for parents to be told if serious complaints had been made against a childminder who is still registered by Ofsted. They said, 'No parent in their right mind would have put a child in Linda Bayfield's care if they had known her history, and yet the system in place at the time allowed her to look after children.' Gill Haynes, chief executive of the National Childminding Association, called for everyone to 'keep a sense of proportion' over the case. She said that there are more than 70,000 registered child minders in England alone and that childminding is a 'safe and highly regarded form of childcare'.
