Responsible Child; BBC2.

I recorded this and watched it last night. It was truly heartbreaking. It also made me very angry that a child of that age should be tried in an adult court. I still can't understand why the step father's violence towards the mother and the children didn't prevent him from being re-introduced into the family.

The whole thing was really upsetting and I too wonder happened to both the boys.

I think the age of responsibility should be raised. At ten, they are just children, and can't possibly have the life experience to understand consequences. They haven't lived long enough.

Criminalising 10 year olds seems unnecessarily cruel, as it can ruin the rest of their lives. I think they should be rehabilitated, treated if treatment is appropriate, and treated kindly throughout. As soon as they are deemed to be ready to be released, they should be, and their identities should be kept secret with no exceptions.

I'm not sure if we should be trying children as adults

It's not as if they get sent to an adult prison

This case was tragic

A very compelling TV adaptation

Desperately sad

I too was gripped by this programme and agreed the acting by the boy was superb. Although knowing the mother in the case had been abused and controlled by the man, it was hard not to feel a bit critical of her for saying nothing in defence of her 2 older children.
Not sure of the law here in Ireland but juveniles can be tried in adult court. There was a recent, very sad case of two 14 year old boys who lured a girl to an old house and sexually abused and murdered her.
www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/criminal-court/ana-kriegel-murder-boy-a-sentenced-to-life-boy-b-sentenced-to-15-years-1.4072944
There were no mitigating circumstances in this case but there were very strict rules about reporting names or even school they went to - even sharing on social media.

elastic; there is a picture of the 'real' boy in a newspaper at the time so I think that did actually happen. Luckylegs; thanks for that...I can't stop thinking about him. Sad that, no matter how much love a foster family would give a child like that, they still want their 'real' family. The boys older brother was found to be suffering from depression but was found to be guilty of murder and sentenced to 14 years. Heck; I'm welling up again. I do hope he's found happiness. I didn't intend to watch it as I knew it would upset me, but I was gripped right from the start. I just wanted to hug him .

Useful information Luckylegs, thank you. Thank goodness he escaped from a lifetime of unhappiness and violence.

I’ve read that the boy who was so brilliant at portraying his anguish and inability to get over his terror etc is actually Shakin’ Stevens’ grandson and the real child in this case was released after three years and disappeared. Thank goodness!

It was difficult to watch but I’m glad I did. The actor who played the young boy was amazing and it gripped me from start to finish. It did touch on how young people’s brains differ from those of adults and how this affects their actions. I am hoping more research will be carried out in this area to strengthen the argument for changing the law.

The saddest bit was when the mum approached him after he was convicted and virtually blamed him for splitting the family up.

So wrong too,that the judge order the lifting of reporting restrictions. Wonder if that happened in the real life case, or whether that added in for effect.

I find it incredible that children from ten up are tried as adults in British courts. So wrong!

No way was he a wicked boy. Just the opposite in fact. He wanted to help and protect everyone, including his older brother. He only participated in the crime because he knew his brother was in danger of his life. Very sad story.

What is "truly wicked" travelsafar? I once talked to some women ( I was leading a memoir writing group) on the subject of revenge. They all said they could not understand the need for revenge. I asked them if they had ever been badly wronged. I was met with complete silence. That boy and his brother had witnessed terrible cruelty that affected everyone in their family; their mother was controlled by an abusive man and had given up trying to fulfil her role. It was a terrible crime but we can never know the mental torments of those brothers when the elemental force that exists in all of us rose up and overpowered any rational response to their situation. It must have seemed like the only way out for them. May God help them in the prison system.

Oh....Labaik have just seen your comment!
Obviously there are many boys out there who look identical.

I can’t watch this, however good it is......the young boy looks like the twin of my DGS.

I recorded this one and watched Sticks and Stones on ITV which was chilling!

Hmm brilliant acting by the young boy but i wasn't sure what to make of it all.
I may watch again on catch up to see if i could make sense of it all.
Was he truely wicked or was he just a victim of his dreadful circumstances??

The tragedy of a chaotic family life was portrayed very well, but I think they failed to explain the legal processes and the circumstances leading up to the murder, which made it rather disappointing. The Sally Challen programme was much stronger in those two areas.

I'm still feeling numb...we must put more money into social care/education/prison rehabilitation etc. Didn't help that he looked a lot like my grandson...I keep wanting to know what happened to the boy it was based on.

I agree it was traumatising to watch. Superb young actor. Think it was based on a true story. Well worth seeing on catchup. Thought provoking