I have just watched the above film via amazon prime. It reminded me why my social work career veered off into adult care as I could not handle the emotional agony of deprived and abused children.
The film centres around an essentially true story of two brothers (one teenage, the other 10) who have an abusive stepfather and whose lives are lived in fear. In desperation, at the instigation of the older brother, they murder their stepfather in his sleep.
It examines the failures of the care system, and also the vexed question of the age of criminal responsibility in the UK where a child can be tried in the adult courts from the age of 10, if the crime is serious enough and the youth courts do not have sufficient powers to impose a long sentence. This is a lower age than other developed countries I believe.
I will not reveal the outcome in case anyone decides to watch the film. Suffice to say it reduced me to tears and reminded me of real life families with whom I had had dealings when younger. Some poor children have dreadful lives.
What time do you get up and go to bed?
Good Morning Sunday 19th April 2026
