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Grimsby MP: I dare to hope that Melanie Onn (the MP for Grimsby) can make progress where others have failed. Throughout the podcast and in this blog, I have been very reluctant to use the real names of individuals involved, but, in the case of the MP for Grimsby, it makes no sense to give a false name, given that she is a known public figure. Since our initial meeting, Ms Onn and her caseworker have carried out actions and kept me informed. She has even asked parliamentary questions about awareness and diagnosis of FASD in schools. I cling to the thread of belief that Ms Onn does ‘get’ just how suspicious it is for a vulnerable young person with special needs to be removed from her home in a covert operation just one day after that individual’s eighteenth birthday … and for that individual to then be systematically isolated from all their loved ones.

Please help: The caseworker has requested testimony. Those who know Lizzie – who watched her grow up, saw her joyous spirit, her offbeat outlook, and her deep affection for her family, church, Godparents and parents – are invited to send a brief statement. Describe how she was, share your views on her, and express the impact her sudden disappearance has had. Please contact me if you can submit something, and I will provide the necessary details. Such testimonies will give context and substance to what I am saying.

Lizzie’s Godmother captured the spirit of Lizzie beautifully in a Facebook post:

“Lizzie is my goddaughter. She was loving, funny, weird, cute, barmy but most importantly she was vulnerable.

This innocent child was let down again and again by the agencies tasked to protect because chronologically she’s an adult. Mentally she’s a very young child disguised as an adult by virtue of her date of birth.

I know how proud I was when she asked me to be her godmother and how much fun we had. I know how embarrassed I was when we went to visit her at the children’s hospital and on getting to reception said we had come to see Lizzie and were treated with giggles from the staff and “you must be the naughty godmother…we’ve heard ALL about you”. I know how my heart broke when this first happened and continues to be broken – I can’t imagine what her parents go through daily.

If you or someone you know has a vulnerable child read up, learn, educate yourself and most importantly protect your young person.

THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.“

North East Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board (NELSAB): I have made contact with the NELSAB Manager this week, and have sent him the summary of the podcast episodes. Although frontline adult social care is ‘delivered’ by Focus Independent Social Work CIC in North East Lincs, the overall (and legal) responsibility lies with the council NELSAB body. Previous attempts to send information about this case to NELSAB have fallen on stony ground, not even getting an acknowledgment. However, this is a different route in, and I have sent a follow-up email requesting a face-to-face meeting with the manager.

Linkage College: As noted in last week’s update, letters have been sent to key safeguarding leads within the Linkage hierarchy, including to the Chair of Trustees. Unfortunately, those letters landed in half term, so there has been no response yet. Nonetheless, Linkage College have a safeguarding duty of care to all students enrolled with them, and that clearly includes Lizzie. It is not acceptable for them to simply dismiss the concerns with a glib statement of “Lizzie is meeting her educational milestones.” That is not how safeguarding works. Most safeguarding issues don’t happen on school or college grounds, so the college has to look into any report of safeguarding issues, even those that take place offsite. That is their legal obligation, their duty of care.

Given that Linkage College contacted us two weeks before Lizzie was taken, warning us of Lewis’s threat in the classroom that he and his mum were going to take Lizzie away and that we wouldn’t see her again, Linkage evidently considered it to be a safeguarding concern at that point. And yet, when the event actually happened, one day after Lizzie turned eighteen, Linkage College went completely silent. It seems utterly inconceivable that nobody would have expressed any hint of alarm. Why did nobody check in with us? Why was it not followed up?

Why did we suddenly lose all rights to know what was going on or even who was recorded as Lizzie’s next of kin? Jane was Lizzie’s primary carer … Jane is Lizzie’s mum!

Could Linkage say, “But we presumed Coral was now Lizzie’s primary carer”? How can someone simply decide to be someone’s primary carer? Can a stranger just arbitrarily decide to be the primary carer of a vulnerable young person? Is that how it works? Do educational establishments and state bodies simply accept the word of this unknown third party who has suddenly appeared on the scene and pronounced themselves to be the primary carer… even when the individual’s own parents are protesting loudly and in great anguish, with clear concerns for the individual’s welfare? If that is indeed how the system operates (and it certainly was what happened with the DWP), then that is surely a charter for predatory removal and exploitation. It amounts to state approval for such abusive behaviour.

I cannot and will not let go of my core responsibilities and duties as Lizzie’s dad, her primary protector. I won’t betray or abandon her. I won’t.

Anne Frank said, “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. My advice is; ‘Go outside, to the fields, enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy!‘”

Well said!

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Thank you for reading. If you have any insights, comments or advice, please feel free to add them below.