"The mother of Baby P and two men are due to appear at the Old Bailey today to be sentenced over his death.

The uncomfortable truth is that there are many adults out there preying upon vulnerable children and that stiff sentencing is all well and good, but by then the damage has been done and children have been killed or traumatised for life.

The only positive aspect of this horrifying case is that child abuse and the role of social services has been brought under the spotlight and we should hopefully see some reforms to the system that ensure children like Baby P don't slip through the net again.

Many may feel that if the Baby P abusers are sent down for life then justice will have been served, but the fact of the matter is that if our social services were functioning properly then it would never have come this far. People have been quick to point the finger of blame at Haringey Council over this tragic situation but it is clear that our social services are in crisis and social workers are underpaid, overworked and undervalued.

If we want to avoid another case like this then we need to look harder at how we are failing our children within the system.We need to properly fund the agencies that protect our children. Is that not a good use of public money?"

Comment from Tony Broadley, Head of Family at Manchester based law firm, Rowlands, on today's sentencing for Baby P abusers