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Family of tragic toddler Alexina Kelbie still waiting for council apology – after more than 60 years

Alexina Kelbie died more than 60 years ago. Image: Peter Kelbie.

Council chiefs admitted they never apologised to the family of a tragic two-year-old who died while in care.

A top official was quizzed about the 1960 death of Alexina Kelbie during a hearing of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry on Thursday.

She suffered a head injury at her foster home in Dundee’s Fintry Road which was initially claimed to have been self-inflicted.

The toddler’s brother Peter Kelbie, originally from Aberdeen, has spent several decades fighting for answers explaining what happened to Alexina.

Police Scotland finally apologised to him last year after they admitted they had not alerted him to new evidence which emerged in 2006.

A Dundee University expert had re-examined post-mortem photographs and found evidence suggesting she had been assaulted.

Glyn Lloyd. Image: DC Thomson

Glyn Lloyd, head of the children’s service at Dundee City Council, was asked about the child’s death while giving evidence to the inquiry, which is chaired by Lady Smith.

He said the local authority could find no files relating to Alexina’s care.

Ruth Innes KC, the inquiry’s senior counsel, asked Mr Lloyd about the council’s contact with Mr Kelbie.

He said there had been “correspondence over the years”, involving both the former Tayside Regional Council and Dundee City Council, and that the authority had helped fund a memorial to Alexina.

Following the recent evidence relating to her injuries, Mr Lloyd said: “The council wrote back and offered sympathy… and encouraged him to make contact with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.”

No apology

When it was put to the official that there had been sympathy expressed but no apology, Mr Lloyd said: “There was an acknowledgment she died in care but there wasn’t an apology.”

Mr Kelbie, who was also in care in the north-east as a child, only learned of Alexina’s existence and death in 1983 when he was reunited with his other birth sisters in London.

He pushed for reviews into the police investigation in 1988 and 1993 but it was decided the death had been fully investigated.

Peter Kelbie. Image: Pete Copeland

However, in 2006 Mr Kelbie asked to see the police files from 1960 which prompted another investigation.

This time a detective found post-mortem photographs of Alexina which showed her body was covered in bruises and other injuries, including a bite mark.

Officers traced the photographs back to Sergeant John Underwood, who said at the time he was unhappy with the suggestion Alexina’s injuries were self-inflicted.

Pathologist Professor Derrick Pounder from Dundee University reviewed the photographs, however his findings were not disclosed to the Kelbie family at the time.

The force admitted last year it withheld the information about this development in 2006, and has since issued an apology to Mr Kelbie and his family.

The hearing comes one day after the top social worker in Aberdeen said officials “missed opportunities” to prevent historic abuse of children in foster care.

Chief social work officer Graeme Simpson admitted it had been “painful” to hear harrowing evidence given by multiple victims to the long-running Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

In Edinburgh on Wednesday, he said “fostering has changed” but there is “learning” is still required.