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This horrific news story was just beyond belief

(125 Posts)
Allira Tue 26-Nov-24 20:05:15

On the evening news was a report about a baby, a child, who had been found in a drawer under a bed where she had been kept by her mother for three years.
The child was malnourished, had never seen the light of day, her limbs deformed.
Other children living in the house were unaware of her existence.

A visitor to the house heard her crying and she was discovered when a social worker visited. She is now with foster parents, receiving the care, love and medical attention she needs.

The mother has been sentenced to prison.

I wept when I heard this and can barely type this without weeping. Police officers were weeping in court.

How could this happen in this country in the 21st century?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz1dv8ly2o

Cossy Wed 27-Nov-24 10:26:11

Jeanathome

Trust me Cossy, I'd be first in line to ring the appropriate services if I suspected something was wrong.

Yes I’m sure you and all GNs would.

Safeguarding is the responsibility of all

Jeanathome Wed 27-Nov-24 11:14:03

Absolutely.

Allira Wed 27-Nov-24 11:41:24

Cossy

Jeanathome

Trust me Cossy, I'd be first in line to ring the appropriate services if I suspected something was wrong.

Yes I’m sure you and all GNs would.

Safeguarding is the responsibility of all

I'm sure we would (and have).

But no-one new about her.
As far as anyone was concerned, she did not exist.

Covid caused so much damage beyond the disease itself.

Allira Wed 27-Nov-24 11:42:19

knew.

petal53 Wed 27-Nov-24 11:58:36

As Iam64 commented, this poor little girl will have stunted development in many areas, as a result of her treatment during her formative years. It’s beyond words to describe how we ordinary Gransnetters feel about this, because the behaviour is so abnormal to us, many of us being mothers and grandmothers. I simply can’t find words to express my horror and disgust at what was done to this child. I speak as the grandparent of an adopted grandchild, who was very neglected during his first year of life, but it was nowhere near this bad. And yet we know how the neglect he suffered impacted his development in his early years. Thankfully now he has loving parents, grandparents, and wider family, and he has a good life.
I wish the same for this poor little girl 🙏

Esmay Wed 27-Nov-24 12:07:08

I read this and cried .
I can't get it out of my mind .
Her mother can't be normal .
It's unbelievable that no one heard her cry .
Maybe , the other children were too scared to explore their home even though they have been described as well cared for .
I'm glad to read that she is making progress so that there is hope for her for a happy future .

Iam64 Wed 27-Nov-24 12:13:53

Esmay a jet feature of this kind of neglect is that babies learn crying doesn’t bring anyone to help or care for them. The healthy attachment cycle shows baby cries, carer (usually mother in those key early months. Baby attaches, mum bonds. This little child had her basic needs neglected to an extent that’s almost impossible to comprehend.

petal153 thanks to your family x

M0nica Wed 27-Nov-24 12:37:23

This mother has probably destroyed this child's life.

Do you remember the Rumanian Orphanages, where the children were just left in cots, sometimes tied in and were inadequaately fed and watered and never picked up or cuddled.

Despite many of those children then being adopted by lovving families these children have physical and mental dvelopment problems that have lasted through into adulthood.

This poor wee lass is likely to be already so mentally dmagaed she will be unable to function with out commuity support for the rest of her life.

All the mother got was 7 years. The sentence should have been much longer, but that probably wasn't possible.

Shelflife Wed 27-Nov-24 12:54:29

Absolutely shocking, beggers belief . For the mother to calmly say she was not part of the family!!!??? and I find it hard to accept that other people in the house did not know she was there 😕??????. All very odd and lots of questions need asking. Child cruelty is on the increase - or is it that we hear about it all now. Whatever the reason this has got to stop .

SueDonim Wed 27-Nov-24 13:41:34

The mother claimed the drawer was never shut on the child. hmm Even if a baby eventually learns that crying brings no reward, surely a newborn baby will cry? How was that covered up? She was only fed milky Weetabix, I can’t imagine what a diet like that would do to a body that needs so many nutrients to grow properly.

Seemingly, the mother had a new boyfriend and he was the one who found the child, after hearing an odd noise. He alerted family members and social workers then intervened.

merlotgran Wed 27-Nov-24 13:55:36

I also find it strange and shocking that nobody else discovered the poor little mite until the partner went back into the house as they were going out and heard her crying. It’s said he often used to stay over so where did he sleep?

Where was the natural curiosity of the other children? We all know how hard it is to hide things like Christmas presents so a live baby??? Children normally know every inch of their homes - even the places they’re not supposed to go.

It makes absolutely no sense to me.

Cateq Wed 27-Nov-24 13:56:03

I cried when I read this report, that poor baby. I look at my DGD who’s 20 months and couldn’t comprehend how anyone could do this.

knspol Wed 27-Nov-24 14:00:09

I saw the headline and thought it was in some foreign country like China, never thought for a minute it could be in the UK.

25Avalon Wed 27-Nov-24 14:07:13

I truly hope this little girl does not remember this cruelty and goes on to have a happy life.

My grandma would have said horsewhipping was too good for the mother. How could she even think to behave like this. I read the child was the product of a bad relationship the mother wanted to forget. It would have been better to wrap the little mite up and leave her on a doorstep.

Dee1012 Wed 27-Nov-24 14:14:13

If a visitor to the house heard the poor child crying, I find it very hard to believe that nobody else heard anything in 3 years ?

I can't really say what I think about the woman who brought her into the world angry

Oreo Wed 27-Nov-24 14:19:55

merlotgran

I also find it strange and shocking that nobody else discovered the poor little mite until the partner went back into the house as they were going out and heard her crying. It’s said he often used to stay over so where did he sleep?

Where was the natural curiosity of the other children? We all know how hard it is to hide things like Christmas presents so a live baby??? Children normally know every inch of their homes - even the places they’re not supposed to go.

It makes absolutely no sense to me.

No sense to any of it is there? Almost beyond belief.If a normal size house not a mansion then there’s no way that the other kids didn’t know for 3 years.
In some cultures a cleft palate or any disability that’s obvious can be covered up, hidden away as shameful.Obvs we don’t know if this is the case here.The Mother fed milky weetabix through a syringe to the poor child as it was maybe the only way to get any food into her mouth easily?
It’s the strangest case I have ever heard of in a world of strange cases.
At least the poor girl was alive, it would have been easy for the Mother to have suffocated her shortly after the birth, but she didn’t.

Juniewoonie Wed 27-Nov-24 14:25:59

The poor little mite, it was on the news today that the fosterers are applying to adopt her, let’s hope her life starts to improve now. I suppose the other children are also in care now. Terribly tragic all round.

Oreo Wed 27-Nov-24 14:29:03

I think it happened a couple of years ago but has just come to court?
Hopefully she has a better life now and won’t remember what came before.It made horrible reading for us all.😟

Bazza Wed 27-Nov-24 14:56:44

I was horrified to hear this story. It crossed my mind that it would have been kinder to leave the child somewhere where she would have been found quickly soon after the birth. At least she would have had the surgery she needed and would have been cared for properly. I also hope she will have no memory of the first three years of her miserable life. The mother is a monster.

Labadi0747 Wed 27-Nov-24 15:43:23

I’m so tired of reports - ‘ well we did hear screaming ‘but do absolute nothing about it.
Wtf can’t people take some responsibility these days

Blinko Wed 27-Nov-24 15:48:05

I wonder why the mother didn’t realise we get clefts fixed here in the UK.? Mine was fixed gradually over the first ten years but they’re done much more quickly nowadays. Very odd…

Aveline Wed 27-Nov-24 15:53:06

Is the mother from abroad?

Mmc123uk Wed 27-Nov-24 15:56:54

Me too, suffering silently in plain sight, & still had spirit to the end. Darling child, at peace now, broke my ❤️.

Mmc123uk Wed 27-Nov-24 16:00:46

Mmc123uk

Me too, suffering silently in plain sight, & still had spirit to the end. Darling child, at peace now, broke my ❤️.

Responding to Kate1949

Primrose53 Wed 27-Nov-24 16:15:29

Aveline

Is the mother from abroad?

I suspected that from the language used.