WITH reference to your front page story telling of the mother and her delinquent daughter (Advertiser, May 8), my wife and I are acquainted with this family and we fully endorse her condemnation of social services and the treatment she has received from them.
However, the story does not end there.
During the week the situation was made known to your paper, the mother and her daughter had to appear at the court in Droitwich as the Redditch court is closed for repairs.
Firstly, how is a disabled person supposed to travel to Droitwich?
Public transport was completely out of the question; she had to rely on another person's good will to get her and her daughter to court.
The reason for the court appearance was because the daughter had broken the supervision order placed on her for her previous record of criminal activities.
The bench asked the mother if her daughter received any pocket money.
"Yes," replied the mother, "five pounds a week if she behaves and deserves any pocket money, which isn't very often."
The bench then fined the mother £25 and told her to deduct it from her daughter's pocket money.
The mother is being punished for the behaviour of the daughter and the girl is deprived of any pocket money she may (or may not) have earned.
As a result of this court ruling, there is a strong possibility the daughter will now go out and commit more crimes to get money; perhaps shoplifting, stealing from relatives as she has done in the past, or something similar.
The mother is not allowed, by law, to chastise her daughter.
She is not allowed to confine her to the family home as this breaches her human rights and due to her disability, she cannot go chasing after her if she takes off into the "wild blue yonder".
What is she to do?
It is our opinion this wayward girl should be placed in a secure place of detention and be given the psychiatric treatment she so obviously needs.
As for the statement by social services that they cannot look after the girl because the mother has booked a short holiday abroad, they must remember a holiday abroad is usually cheaper than a holiday in our own country.
They must also remember that not so long ago, young tearaways themselves were taken on holidays (at taxpayers' expense) to exotic places for several weeks at a time.
Name and address supplied
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article