Riggi killings 'couldn't be prevented'

THE deaths of three children killed by their own mother in the midst of a bitter divorce battle could not have been prevented, according to city council bosses.

Theresa Riggi, 47, stabbed eight-year-old twins Austin and Luke and their sister Cecilia, five, to death before throwing herself from a balcony at a flat in Edinburgh's Slateford Road.

She was at the centre of a custody battle with husband Pasquale in August last year.

When she failed to appear at court for a divorce hearing on August 3, her husband's lawyer told judge Lady Clarke there was "a real emergency" and an order was issued for social workers to supervise the children. But social workers were not informed of the concerns for 24 hours, five minutes after Riggi had killed herself.

Children and families leader Councillor Marilyne MacLaren said: "Senior social work staff at the council have looked closely at all the systems we use to share information.

"I'm fully satisfied that nothing more could have been done at the time of this tragedy to prevent it from happening."

But Claude Knights, director of child protection charity Kidscape, said questions still remained over the deaths.

Riggi admitted a reduced charge of culpable homicide due to diminished responsibility in March.