Mental disorder: Ntsimbi Galtricia is in hospital with knife wounds
A mother is suspected of stabbing her daughter to death four days after being
cleared to keep the child by a mental health team.
The girl, two-year-old Balthous, was found dead just after midnight by
paramedics who were called to her flat in Barking.
The mother, named locally as Ntsimbi Galtricia, 23, was suffering from serious
stab wounds and detectives are waiting to question her in hospital. Police say
they are not looking for anyone else.
Social workers assessed Ms Galtricia last Thursday but allowed her to keep the
child. They stepped in after residents voiced concerns about the woman's
strange behaviour. She was arrested on Wednesday for harassment of local
shopkeepers and police visited her again following another complaint on
Saturday.
Law House, the block of flats where French- speaking Ms Galtricia, believed to
be from West Africa, had lived with her daughter for around eight months, was
cordoned off today. She was well known by shopkeepers close to the nine-storey
block, particularly those at the Thames Superstore.
Manager Huseyin Alacayir, 26, said he had called police to remove her a number
of times. She was eventually banned from entering the premises after failing
to heed their warnings.
He said: "She always used to come in with her little girl. Whenever she came
in she told me that I was her husband and the father of her child and she told
me to come back home. Once she tried to get into the office."
A barber who would only be named as Dougie said he called the police after the
woman turned up at his shop on Saturday. He said she said to him, 'Come home,
everything's going to be all right'."
A spokesman for Barking and Dagenham council said: "The police had reported a
couple of instances of the woman's behaviour to us.
"She was assessed by our mental health team on 9 August but she was not found
to be suffering from a mental health disorder.
"Crucially, the information we received from the police didn't raise any
concerns over the welfare of the child. We didn't take action over the child."
He added: "It's a tragic incident and our sympathy goes to the mother and
family. The case will be subject to a serious case review." A police
spokeswoman said: "We are looking into the background of the family as part of
our investigation but we can confirm a woman in her 20s on 8 August was
arrested on suspicion of harassment of a shopkeeper. She was bailed pending
further inquiries."
"We can confirm she was seen by a police doctor and mental health
professionals and deemed fit to be dealt with by the police."
The spokeswoman said she came to police attention again following another
complaint of harassment of shopkeeper on Saturday. "We did visit her address
as part of our inquires," she said. "No concerns were raised but we made a
referral to social services."
Concern: shopkeeper
Huseyin Alacayir says he was harassed by mother of the dead girl
