At 11:35 a.m. on August 3 last year, 17-month-old Baby P was brought to a hospital in Haringey in north-west London and was declared dead on arrival. His ribcage was broken, as was his back, paralysing him from the waist down. His body, from head to toe, was bruised badly. He had literally been battered to death by his mother, her boyfriend and another male friend. The three have been convicted and are awaiting a sentence on December 11. The maximum punishment they face is 14 years in prison.

The first time the mother took Baby P to a doctor for bruising was when he was five months old. She said the baby bruised easily and she feared that she might be accused of child abuse. From then on, visits to a doctor or a hospital for bruising and other injuries were regular and frequent. Each time the explanation was either that Baby P had fallen off the sofa, or down the stairs, or had hit his head on the wall. Social workers visited Baby P’s home 60 times. Twice, the mother was arrested for assault on the baby but was let off on bail. The baby was sent off to live with his aunt, but was returned after a few weeks. Two days before his death, he was brought to hospital with, what is now clear, a broken ribcage and back, but the doctor did not carry out a full examination because the baby was “miserable and cranky”.

But while Britain needs to examine this total systemic failure to assist and save this most helpless and innocent of its citizens, Baby P’s short life should make each of us examine what we are, what humanity is. The word “humanity” has broadly two meanings: “the human race”, and “the quality of being humane; kindness, benevolence”. Baby P tells us that the second meaning should now be unceremoniously scrapped.

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