The abduction of schoolgirl Shannon Matthews, which led to a £3 million police hunt, "could not have been foreseen", a review of the case published on Wednesday found.
Nine-year-old Shannon disappeared in February 2008 and was found 24 days later hidden in the base of a divan bed in a flat about a mile from her home in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
Her mother, Karen Matthews, was jailed for eight years for the kidnap along with her former partner's uncle, Michael Donovan, who lived in the flat.
A serious case review by Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board said there was "little leeway" for agencies to intervene before the abduction.
Alison O'Sullivan, director of children and young people at Kirklees Council, said the abduction had been "unusual, unexpected and challenging".
"This was an unprecedented case and it was not possible to foresee that Shannon would fall prey to abduction by people closest to her," she said. "We are very firm in that belief, though we accept there are areas of criticism in the report and we agree with them."
The review -- which looked at how all five children in the family were supported -- found there had not been good reason to take Shannon and her four siblings into care before the incident. It considered the role of 22 agencies involved with the family between 1995 and 2008.
"We must stress that the threshold for taking any of the children into care -- for removing them from their mother -- was not reached," O'Sullivan added.
The report concluded that the children experienced "neglectful parenting interspersed with periods of adequate parental care".
"This case starkly demonstrates the difficulty of responding effectively to families where parenting is characterised by low-level neglect which at times escalates into inadequate parenting with detrimental consequences for children's wellbeing," it said.
O'Sullivan said the nation had been "gripped" by the story of Shannon's abduction and "shocked...when the truth became clear".
Shannon had been let down by her mother, the very person who should have been protecting her, she added.
"We are sorry that any child should go through this traumatic experience," she said.
Shannon was placed on the child protection register in 2002 but removed in late 2003, the review confirmed.
While social services were largely absolved by the review, they should have agreed to Matthews' request for one of her children to be taken into care, it found.
Kirklees Council stressed it had acted on the 12 recommendations made in the report but insisted there were no systematic failings.
The council has pledged to publish the full report in due course, following a request from the Department for Education.
Copyright 2010 AFP European Edition
