London: A girl of seven was starved to death by her mother and stepfather after a series of failures by public officials.

Khyra Ishaq was beaten and allowed to die a slow and agonising death, despite being monitored and visited by at least nine social workers, education officers, teachers and police. Many of them were fobbed off by the girl's mother. They did not even find out that her schizophrenic and brutal stepfather was living in the house.

Yesterday a judge said Khyra — who had lost 40 per cent of her body weight and was just 12.7kg when she died — would still be alive if they had done their job.

Astonishingly, she had not even been placed on the at risk register — despite concerns from her head teacher that she had been spotted stealing food.

On Thursday it also emerged that:

Her mother and stepfather exploited a loophole in home education laws to keep her a prisoner in their house without arousing the suspicions of the authorities. Her school saw signs of starvation and told social services, who did nothing before eventually relying on a single fleeting glimpse of Khyra to decide she was "fit and well". None of the "incompetent" officials who dealt with Khyra's case has been disciplined.

Her mother Angela Gordon, 35, and stepfather Junaid Abu Hamza, 30, were convicted of her manslaughter and cruelty to five other children who lived in the house. They will be sentenced next week.

Horrific regime

Abu Hamza had moved into the house in Handsworth, Birmingham, and introduced a horrific regime of punishment. He believed an evil spirit lurked inside the innocent girl, and had to be beaten, whipped and starved out of her.

Khyra had been withdrawn from state school by her mother, who told authorities that she would be educated at home. But court papers said that Khyra's death in May 2008 would "in all probability" not have happened if there had been "an adequate initial assessment and proper adherence by the educational welfare services to its guidance".

In a secret ruling made last year, High Court judge Justice King said: "It is beyond belief that, in 2008, in a bustling, energetic and modern city like Birmingham, a child of seven was withdrawn from school and… kept in squalid conditions… before finally dying of starvation."