More Incidents of Child Abuse

by Hayley
(Solihull)

It is a long time since I last posted anything in my page, a very long time in fact. In the case of little Khyra and her siblings, the case had been adjourned as one of the jurors became unwell. Unfortunately there has been no other news on the matter.

There have however been other truly shocking stories of abuse being inflicted on innocent kids and teenagers.

One of these was an act of frenzied violence carried out by a boy of sixteen. He had been asked to baby sit a neighbour's little girl on his sixteenth birthday. Apparently he was so "fed up" about having to work on his birthday that he lost his temper and battered little Demi's body, causing her devastating brain damage.

In another sickening story, a couple were found to have hidden a camera in a loft area and made a spy hole in the ceiling over a bathroom so that they could spy on teenage girls as they took a bath. They were "guided" to being within view of the camera by the woman as her husband recorded them undressing and probably carrying out intimate personal hygiene.

This recording equipment was apparently found by chance by fire fighters who grew suspicious at the location of it all. They went to fight a fire at a neighbouring property and they found sickening evidence of potential paedophilia. Unfortunately, the husband took his own life, leaving his wife to take the punishment alone. It is not quite so unfortunate though as it rids the world of a pervert.

On my way home from work yesterday I was relaxing but couldn't help overhearing a young mother getting ratty with her younger son. He couldn't have been more than three years old, an age where kids know what they want but may not always have the appropriate vocabulary to request it, or be able to cope with their disappointment at being refused something that they may want. This little boy was sat strapped in his buggy and understandably wanted to get out and sit on a proper seat. His mother was however refusing. After some determined protesting from the little boy, he was finally allowed to sit on his mother's lap. He was becoming ratty with boredom and probably tired and it was obviously frustrating for his mother. After some time, two ladies who had been sitting on the first forward facing seat on their side of the bus got off. This enabled the mother with her two sons to sit on that seat. The older son sat quietly and was no trouble. The youngest son however was getting upset as he obviously wanted to get up and stretch his little legs. He also needed to use the toilet and was doing everything he could to avoid wetting himself. He must have asked about five times if he could go to the toilet, but every time his mother snapped at him with a sarcastic answer. In the end she picked him up, spun him round and thumped him down on the seat, which drew loud cries of pain and quite possibly humiliation. As she did this she used utter profanities to him, something she had done almost every time she spoke to him.

On another occasion I was going to my job as an auxiliary nurse, to work a late shift. There were two young kids, tired and fed up. One, the youngest lad getting grumpy. His mother just moaned at him, called him a whinge bag.

I was utterly horrified at both instances. They had had kids young, yet they had neither the temperament or patience to deal with the needs and demands of looking after them when they are so dependent on their mothers for so much. No child, no matter how frustrating they may appear to be, or how much of a demand they may put on their mother's patience deserves to be spoken to like that.

It still makes me cringe at the memory of me at 7 or 8 years of age getting ready to go to Brownies. My mother was in a terrible mood and I was sorting out a folder of sorts to put my badge work in for a test that evening. I had stapled the two pieces of card together as I had been shown previously, but this apparently was not sufficient. My mother became very angry at me very quickly, and started swearing at me, using words that I was shocked and very distressed at hearing. I wasn't a bad kid. I had my moments when I got angry and played up, mainly when my brother was being a "typical boy". That didn't however stop me feeling as though I was utterly inferior to him, and anything that he did or touched was golden. Anything I touched however was nothing and turned bad.

I think I have reached the end of this entry. I have finished my counselling now and am very happy. No more frustrating Tuesday mornings with a counsellor who often drove me mad.

Take care everyone and remember you are all better than the people that have hurt you in the ways that they have.

More update on Khyra and siblings - plus more child abuse in the news

by Hayley
(Olton, Solihull)

Since I last contributed, more evidence has been heard on Khyra Ishaq's death. It was alleged that Angela Gordon had screamed at social workers and her own sister to stop them from visiting. Yesterday I was horrified to read that one little boy had been so desperate for food that when in hospital he tried to eat a toy sandwich in from the ward toy box, and was begging the nurses for food. It was remarked that this particular little guy was painfully thin.

What kind of parents could do this to their children? Is there any excuse that would seem almost plausible? Children are among the more vulnerable groups in our society, yet some are treated with such heinous cruelty by those trusted to look after them, nurture them and love them.

When on my way to work this morning, I read two further instances of child abuse. One was physical abuse committed by a fifteen-year-old boy who had been left babysitting a little girl of about two years old. He claimed that she had fallen over while playing in the park but this was found to be totally inconsistent with her injuries. He had in fact slapped her repeatedly about the face, and possibly even shaken her so violently that she was suffering from brain injury. Her mother reported that she had been just about breathing and had called the ambulance. At this point the boy had been sat outside cross-legged. He told the paramedics the same story that he had told the girl's mother but when pressed, refused to answer any more questions.

In another instance, a family of three young children had been kept in a house that was apparently never cleaned and had human waste plastered in many places. There was an image chillingly similar to the ones shown after little Peter was murdered, and the three children expected to sleep on a soiled mattress in one room. It has been reported that in this particular instance, painfully similar to Khyra's siblings. The children have been taken out of the environment and are now thriving - if I remember correctly - with foster parents.

It is more chilling reminders of how adults can so easily take advantage of children who are unable to stand up for themselves. In the case of the paedophile nursery worker, a woman from Nottingham has now been arrested and remanded in custody. Hopefully the judges presiding these three cases will show some common sense in sentencing, and compassion towards the children who have been hurt. I wouldn't like to get my hopes up, but we can dream!

Rest in peace Peter and Khyra. You have been such brave little kids and you are a huge loss to society. Sweet dreams kids, you deserve them.

Khyra update, and more shocking news

by Hayley
(Solihull)

I haven't been online for a while, but there have been more shocking revelations by witnesses in the case against Angela Gordon and Junaid Abuhamzha. The jury had heard from child A who had reported getting wacked with a stick for being disobedient or rude, and child B who had been made to stand in the rain for the same crime, or for stealing food. I also stated that Khyra and child B, a thirteen-year-old girl, had been made to stand in front of a fan in their underwear if they were "naughty", in a statement given by child C.

More shocking revelations have been made.

One of the children had been caught stealing from cupboards and other children at school, and his mother had banned the teachers from allowing him to have snacks. Another child or possibly the same child had been referred to a dietician by doctors, but the appointment had not been kept. This child was described as listless and tired in class. The children would be expected to share one mug of water between five of them, and a bowl of food between them. Utterly obscure meals were forced on them. Sandwiches made of crisps, chocolate, peanut butter and other unorthodox fillings were forced upon these children, and if they did not eat them they would be severely punished.

Child C had stated that he knew that Khyra was in a bad way. In fact the pathologist that carried out the post mortem on Khyra was absolutely astonished at the state of her emaciated body. Child C had probably, in fact almost certainly, been too afraid to say anything about Khyra for fear of retribution, possibly the same punishment that Khyra was subjected to: locked in a room and not allowed to eat or drink unless the adults felt like it. The final cause of death on Khyra's death certificate was starvation, undeniable in the face of her emaciated little body, weighing less than a child of two years old. There had also been mentionable evidence of infection, which would quite easily have ravished her tiny body in very little time.

This story is not the only one in the news. Nor is the one of the nursery worker who has been remanded in custody for holding indecent images of the children in her care. An eithteen-year-old man from Walsall in the West Midlands has been arrested for possessing child porn on his computer. It was then linked to a woman in the USA; Bangor, Maine to be exact. The photos and even videoes are of children being sexually abused. The woman responsible has been arrested and charged for gross sexual assault against children. Hopeully the sentence in North America for such evil paedophiles is greater than the measly few years that will be meted out to the teenager in Walsall and the Nursery worker in Plymouth.

Do judges handing out sentences in Britain ever realise that children who have been abused may still suffer for longer than the prison sentences handed to their abusers? Will it ever be realised that abusers need to be made to answer effectively for their crimes, and understand why they carried out these acts against trusting and vulnerable members of society. Ex-offenders will be able to rebuild their lives if they ever get released from prison. Children who have suffered a sustained ordeal may not be so lucky, taking measures to bury their pain with drugs and alcohol. They could get so desperate to get hold of these that they will do anything they need to to get the money to pay for their next drink or their next hit. It isn't just the physical effects that their substance abuse has on them that they are left recovering from.

I count myself lucky. I had something to channel my energies on when the abuse was brought out into the open, that being school work. Other people are not so lucky, and they spiral into the life of alocholism and/or drug addiction, often finding themselves homeless. If judges ever thought about that, they might hand longer more subsantial sentences to child abusers.

The effect of abuse I have put forward was that suffered by an author who wrote a trmendous book, Wasted. Mark Johnson went through a truly horrendous ordeal for a lot of his life, and has had the strength and courage, not just to write about it, which must have been incredibly traumatic, but actually survived the abuse and the addictions he suffered to deal with his childhood traumas.

This is all I can think of right now. No doubt there will be more updates on Khyra and her siblings, as the case is set to last for at least a month yet so we are a long way from getting a verdict. The chances of these six children getting the justice that they deserve is depressingly slim, but we can hope.

Khyra and Nursery updates

by Hayley
(Solihull)

Since I made a contribution yesterday, more evidence has been heard in the case of little Khyra. A thirteen-year-old boy gave video evidence yesterday and it transpired that these monsters had allowed Khyra to have some porridge a few days before she died. It is beyond me what difference they thought it would make to the little girl, a case of far too little far too late for her. The thirteen-year-old, like the twelve-year-old, reported that they would get "whacked" with a stick for being rude, or even made to stand outside in the rain. A similar physical punishment would ensue if anyone was to be found stealing food.

Discipline is a good thing for all children, however the incidents that were disclosed by these two brave youngsters is nowhere near that. It is mere brutality, cold-blooded at that.

As for the filthy pervert who called herself a nursery nurse, she has been remanded in custody. Television reports showed angry citizens of Plymouth chasing the police van away from the court hurling abuse, and police officers stopping them. While she deserved everything she got, is she really worth wasting energy and breath on? People in the public gallery were left shocked and horrified; it could so easily have been their babies or toddlers being abused by this sick individual. At the trial of Khyra's mother and stepfather, similar scenes were in evidence.

Children, the disabled and the elderly are among some of the most vulnerable people in society, yet they are severely short-changed by the Criminal Justice System when it comes to justice meted out to those cruel-minded scum who take pleasure out of harming them. People who mug elderly people in the street get nothing more than a slap on the wrist and told not to be a naughty girl/boy. Health care professionals who maltreat elderly possibly even dementing/demented people are just given their marching orders from the institutions where they committed their crimes. Regardless of the age group or physical condition of people, the crime of child/adult/elder abuse is still incredibly venial and should be punished with a hefty custodial sentence - but that is just the ideal world. In the real world this is not the case, and probably never will be unless someone stands up and shouts loud enough.

That is all for now. Let's hope that Khyra, her siblings and all those tiny babies and toddlers get some justice. Vanessa Redmond's family have had to be moved away from their home now because of what this evil being has done, but will they ever be safe if their true identity is ever revealed? Who knows? I certainly don't fancy their chances but hope I am proved wrong.

Pure Evil

by Hayley
(Solihull)

Not so long ago, I highlighted the case of Kyra Ishaq, and what that brave little angel had to to endure throughout her short life.

As I make this contribution, her evil mother and her equally evil partner are on trial for killing the little girl and hurting five other children. Sickeningly, they are both denying the murder of Kyra, but accepting guilt for the harm and maltreatment meted out to the other five children. An excuse used by Angela Gordon was that Kyra was possessed by evil. This was a comment made by a twelve-year-old who gave evidence by a video link. It strikes me that the only people possessed by any evil spirit were the abusive adults who hurt and starved all six children.

It was also heard from the paramedic who attended the call to little Kyra, that she looked like a concentration camp survivor, a youngster from a famine hit country appealing for aid. The twelve-year-old who gave the evidence had also suffered abuse, as had four other children in the house. It was reported that neither adult showed any emotion as the ambulance crew attempted to resuscitate Kyra. The courageous twelve-year-old stated that Kyra had lain on her mother's lap like a little rag doll for a couple of days, and the rescuers of all these children added that Kyra had lain like a rag doll in their arms as they carried her to the ambulance. When at hospital, she was found to weigh just around two stone (28 pounds), and did not even register on a Body Mass Index chart. A neighbour giving evidence reported hearing Kyra screaming to be let out as she had been locked inside a room. The children had not been seen for a number of months, and Kyra had probably not been allowed any food for weeks, even months, during her time in "captivity".

During this week I have been on annual leave from my work and had to go back to my parents in a town called Kidderminster where I was raised so I could attend an appointment. Myself and my partner watched with disgust at the attitude that these sick scumbags are reported to have exhibited whilst in the dock, and at the time when Kyra and her siblings were taken away. It is alleged that the kitchen door had a lock on it, although the kitchen was full of food. The children would be severely punished if they took any of this without permission. They were fed like dogs, with just a bowl of oats, no cutlery with which to eat their meagre food ration.

It was truly horrifying to read this, and myself and my parents all voiced out opinions on the vulgar and cruel behaviour of these sick, cruel, brainless individuals, who I did in fact call scum, although I think I may have insulted that.

Just a day after hearing an update on little Kyra, there was another report about a nursery nurse in Plymouth, Devonshire who had indecent photos of young children on her computer. Thankfully the safety of the children was taken into account and the nursery was closed so that police could gather evidence. It was revealed in big name newspapers that this evil sick paedo had taken the photos of the children in her care, young babies even, actually at the Nursery. It is great news to hear and read that this other piece of scum is in prison on remand. Here's hoping that all these adults suffer while they are in jail. These poor defenceless children, Kyra, her siblings and these infants who had obviously been exploited and possibly even sexually abused deserve justice, but the judges will probably only sentence the adults to a pitifully small sentence. Justice for people, that being adults and children, who are coming to terms with abuse and the effects it has on them have been handed a life sentence, if they are still alive. Is it not more fitting that the evil scum that inflicts the suffering on children receive imprisonment for the remainder of their lives, not just twenty years at the most?

I think I have run out of steam again. Hang on in there everyone. You have all been so tremendously brave throughout your ordeal. You are so much stronger than the low lifes that hurt you in the ways that they chose. Rest in Peace those of you that have been killed by abusers (even though you cannot read this). Hopefully some day soon the Criminal Justice System will see sense and hand child abusers a sentence more fitting than just a few years.

Another abuse case, another death

by Hayley
(Solihull)

In my previous entry, I reflected on the plight of two young kids in Haringey. In recent months, or at least nearly a year ago, news in my local paper, the Birmingham Mail told of a seven-year-old girl called Kyra Ishaq being starved to death by her mother's partner. The report was both distressing and disturbing, how a young group of children had been happy and healthy, attending school or play group like any other kid of the ages that these particular children were. Suddenly their mother met up with a gentleman and they became a couple. Then things turned sickeningly sour. The children who were school age were suddenly withdrawn from school. Big bone of contention here. Why did no-one say anything? Did the school not realise that children who normally went to that school suddenly stopped going?

It was reported on the news that little Kyra and her siblings had been taken to hospital, but Kyra had passed away from starvation. At the beginning of this week the trial of her parents commenced, and her step father has denied the murder of Kyra, but - if memory serves me right - he has admitted guilt to harming other children. I regularly switch on my TV to look at the news and was horrified and sickened to read just what had happened to the little girl. She had been locked in a room and held prisoner, and not allowed to eat for a number of months. This was described as the worst case of starvation seen by doctors.

Did neighbours of this family not notice anything strange? Were these children not allowed to go out to play at all? Why did the children's mother go down the road of hurting her own children? What made her do this and why did Social Services not act?

When this little angel's plight was covered on the local regional news, I was horrified to see some flowers left for little Kyra, with a label written by a lady I have looked after. This lady is in fact a relative of Kyra and her siblings and was utterly devastated. I spent some time talking to the lady when she was a patient on the ward I work on, but still reading more into Kyra's plight. I feel nauseous, angry and sad that such evil acts will be punished only with a light sentence.

The killers of Peter were given an unduly lenient sentence, and a newspaper company is in fact attempting to get them the sentence that their crimes deserve. It is debatable whether or not Kyra's step father will be given a sentence that reflects the gravity of what he did to all of those children, but it would be fair to say that when children are killed or severely harmed by abusive parents or other relatives, the sentence meted out to them is more fitting than just a few years in prison, regardless of the age of the child/children hurt and killed. Children who survive any form of abuse are potentially left with a life sentence of their own. Would it not be better justice for their persecutors to be given life imprisonment, without protection of solitary confinement?

We can dream! I had better go now as time is about to run out on me. Rest in Peace Kyra, you were so brave.

Abuse in the news - Paediatrics

by Hayley
(Solihull)

I have watched with interest and disgust the progress that should have been made but never was in the case of Baby P, who can now and will be known as Peter.

This case is akin to a small fish in a very big and turbulent sea, one that only came to light because an innocent little boy was killed by abusive adults and a poor system of child protection. A similar case occurred in the same part of England, Haringey North London, a number of years previously, where a little girl, Victoria Climbié was murdered but insufficient action was taken. Unfortunately little Victoria did not receive the same publicity that Peter received despite the fact that she deserved it.

Cases like these only make the news because a child dies, an investigation was only launched because Peter was the second child to be murdered by people who should have protected him, but failed miserably, and in both instances, the authorities that should have looked after this brave little guy and equally brave little girl said that lessons would be learned. If lessons HAD been learned, Peter would still be alive today, a blessing for any childless couple that may have fostered or even adopted this little boy, probably not so for Peter in later life as he found himself dealing with any issues that would have resulted from what happened to him through his mother, step father and their lodger.

Health professionals, and social workers had numerous chances to save this little boy, his mum was so brazen as to take him to the doctors with complaints that resulted from injuries that were inflicted on him. His nanny attempted to voice her concerns about Peter and the environment that he was forced to exist in, but seemingly insufficient action was taken. Peter was taken to hospitals with injuries but exhibited behaviour that any child his age would show. Did these people not check his hospital records to see that there were rather a lot of visits to hospitals, with injuries that seemed rather odd and explanations that were somewhat incongruent? Peter's mother received visits from the Social workers, who appeared to miss the fact that the child was living in almost squalor. They fell for what is probably the oldest trick in the book when he had chocolate all over his mouth from eating a doughnut. Hardly surprising as Peter doesn't appear to have had many teeth before some of those that he did have were knocked out of his mouth by his evil step father.

Some of the people responsible for not saving Peter or Victoria have been dismissed from their posts, and not a minute too soon. The doctor who failed to assess Peter fully two days before he died failed to use her training and was suspended as this could so easily have resulted or had a part to play in his death. As a proud Auntie to two gorgeous little girls, I would be very impressed if at 17 months, my youngest is able to talk in full coherent sentences when she is NOT in pain. What chance did Peter have when the pain he must have been experiencing from his spine and rib breaks was causing him to be "cranky" as this doctor put it? Children are often unable to put into words exactly how they feel as they lack verbal capacity, particularly young children like Victoria and especially Peter. Would a more experienced doctor, and possibly one who was a parent themself have taken better action? Or was it merely the fact that they were pushed for time and resources so found a little boy crying and screaming in pain too much trouble to investigate fully?

Can cases like Victoria and Peter be avoided? Can more child deaths be avoided through a thorough investigation into the care - or lack thereof of these children? Haringey is not the only area that is failing if reports on the BBC and ITV news is anything to go by. Just yesterday I saw a little girl of about two throw a toy out of her push chair. Her mother picked the car up, told the little girl off, and raised her hand. She did not hit the little girl, but the padded "bar" keeping her in the buggy. Some children are not so lucky, and get screamed and even sworn at by frustrated parents.

When I was growing up, it was seen as acceptable to strike a child, I myself received a few hefty slaps that would leave a hand mark. I was also subjected to some distressing verbal abuse that would leave me tearful and distraught. There were the times when I would hear my books being thrown across the hall and my mother screaming all manner of things. There were the times of being chased upstairs or across the landing to the toilet and slapped, pulled forward and thrown back against the cistern of the toilet, leaving me winded, having abuse screamed at me, good for nothing dozy, horrible, little girl, on one particular occasion, being made to repeat it and told I had repeated it correctly. I had initially refused that day when I was nine, but received a hard slap across my legs for doing so.

Social services should probably review their own policies and procedures, as children could still be taken back to the very place where abuse is happening in many forms and from anyone in the family.

I think I have run out of steam now, as long as parents are hurting their children in one way or another, paediatric health care workers and social workers will be in work, but will lessons REALLY be learned from Peter, Victoria, and all the other children that are killed as a result of violence and negligence inflicted on them by adults who should quite simply not have kids?