Viktorija Sokolova's past not revealed to Wolverhampton school before West Park murder
The school where 14-year-old Viktorija Sokolova spent her final days before she was murdered was unaware she had previously been a pupil in the city, it has emerged.
Safeguarding bosses at Aldersley High School said they were not informed the troubled teenager had grown up in Wolverhampton when she returned to the city after spending time with her father in Ireland.
It also meant they did not know about the chaotic lifestyle she had in the city before going away.
Bob Stephenson, a director at the Amethyst Academy Trust which includes Aldersley, said it “could have been helpful to have background” which was “only available in retrospect”.
Serious Case Review
A Serious Case Review commissioned following Viktorija's death is expected to be published in September.
It will examine whether there were failings by any agencies that had contact with the teenager and her family before she died in April last year.
Ayman Aziz was last week unmasked as her killer after restrictions on his identity were lifted at the High Court.
The 17-year-old was jailed for a minimum of 19 years in February for raping and battering her to death at West Park.
Viktorija spent around 10 days at Aldersley after returning to live with her mother and step-father in Mostyn Street, Whitmore Reans.
Before going to Ireland, where she spent only a few months, she had been a pupil at The King's CoE School in Tettenhall Wood.
Mr Stephenson said she "arrived, ostensibly, as a new arrival from Ireland", despite the fact she had been taught at King's only months earlier.
"It transpired later she had - unknown to Aldersley - already been a pupil in Wolverhampton around six months earlier," he added.
'Multiple challenges'
Despite the lack of information about Viktorija's past, Mr Stephenson said it became clear to Aldersley staff that she had issues.
Before her stay in Ireland she had been involved in drink and drugs and met older eastern European men at Wolverhampton parks.
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Mr Stephenson said: "It quickly became obvious to Aldersley support staff that she had multiple challenges and attempts were immediately actioned to support her but tragically, as it turned out, it was by then too late as she had already re-established contact with the boy who turned out to be her murderer."
He added: “I don’t know how this one slipped through the net. She came back from Ireland and was presented as a new arrival. It was unusual she had not gone back to the school she had been at before.”
Mr Stephenson said Viktorija’s attendance was good for the short time she was at Aldersley.
“Her attendance for the first two weeks was OK. The day we discovered she stopped attending was the day she was discovered murdered in West Park,” he said.
“I couldn’t believe that it happened on our doorstep. But as a school we did everything. I don’t think the report will find we could have done any more.”
A spokesman for Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board said: “Wolverhampton Safeguarding Children Board commissioned a Serious Case Review to look at the involvement that local agencies had with Viktorija and her family, and to establish whether any lessons can be learned which may improve the way they address potential risks to other children in the future. It is anticipated that the review will be published in September.”
