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“Isolation is a form of abuse – and it often begins long before any physical harm. Controlling and coercive behaviour can include slowly cutting someone off from friends, family, or their usual support networks. These behaviours may be subtle at first, but they are serious and can escalate over time.” (Derbyshire Police & Crime Commissioner)

Three years ago today, our daughter Lizzie was removed from her family, her community and every source of safety she had known. Lizzie, a vulnerable young person with a confirmed diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and an IQ in the ‘Intellectual Disability’ range, was taken into an environment where isolation, manipulation and coercive control were allowed not only to take root, but to flourish.

The day before she was taken, on the 20^th July 2023 – Lizzie’s 18^th birthday – a false allegation was made in person at Linkage College: that I had sexually abused Lizzie during her childhood. Lizzie was not present when the allegation was made. She was with me, in York, celebrating her birthday, so was not the source. We believe that the allegation was made by, or on behalf of, Mrs W-C, the woman who went on to remove Lizzie from her home the following day. Linkage College contacted Focus Adult Social Work by telephone. With no prior knowledge of Lizzie whatsoever, Focus responded that “as Lizzie is 18, legally we can’t do anything.” No capacity assessment. No test of the allegation. Focus simply believed what was said, consenting to the removal over the phone, without any checks, caution or professional curiosity.

At precisely the point when Lizzie became vulnerable to predatory behaviour, the system did not protect her – it handed her over. The next day, she was taken. That single telephone exchange represents a catastrophic failure of safeguarding, and a devastating error of judgment that has cascaded through every stage of this case since.

Since her removal, in a manner which was premeditated and we maintain was predatory, Lizzie has been systematically isolated from her friends, family, godparents and support network. We have not seen our own daughter at all for over two and a half years. We cannot get in touch with her. We cannot give her a hug. It appears that Lizzie is surrounded in concentric circles by people and agencies with a vested interest in keeping her precisely where she is.

Yesterday, the 20^th of July 2026, was Lizzie’s 21^st birthday. Our only child. We did not see her turn 21. We sent a card and a gift into the silence, as has been customary since her removal, and received no acknowledgement – no way of knowing whether she even received them.

Lizzie’s FASD affects cognitive function throughout life. Her neurodevelopmental profile was never properly understood, assessed or supported by anyone at Focus Adult Social Work or Humberside Police. The vulnerabilities caused by FASD made Lizzie susceptible to grooming, coercion and control. She was deliberately isolated from her family, her history, her identity and her rights. And the institutions tasked with safeguarding her have enabled that exploitation – whether through ignorance, indifference or deliberate complicity.

For three years we have asked for meetings and for explanations as to the possible justification for Lizzie’s removal and isolation – and for three years, we have been refused. We have provided clear and irrefutable evidence of the coercive and controlling tactics used by those who took her. This manipulative behaviour and isolation are exploitation and abuse. Sadly, there has been an institutional refusal to engage. A refusal to meet. A refusal to see. A refusal to act.

We are not asking anyone to simply take our word for it. We are asking you to look properly at the evidence, at what has been done in Lizzie’s name over three years, and ask yourself whether you would accept this outcome for your own daughter, your own granddaughter – someone unable, by clinical diagnosis, to protect herself with the judgment others take for granted.

To those who have tried to help – who have written letters, made safeguarding referrals or simply reached out – thank you. You have kept us upright through the worst three years of our lives. Particular thanks go to FASD Network UK and FASD Hub South West for their robust support. Sadly, cases like ours are far from rare, given the widespread indifference and lack of understanding of FASD in England.

To those in a position to act, and who have not: your silence has a cost. It is not paid by you, but by a vulnerable young woman cut off from the people who raised and loved her since she was five months old, and by an entire family who have spent three anniversaries grieving a daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin or goddaughter who is, as far as we know, still alive.

Silence is not neutrality. Silence is not caution, nor is it professionalism. Silence is complicity.

This is not an isolated failure. It is part of a national pattern, documented in Exploitation Of Adults With Cognitive Impairment In England (Nottingham University & Ann Craft Trust, 2024) and Systems Generated Trauma (Cerebra & University of Leeds, 2025). The failures that harmed Lizzie are systemic, known and preventable.

We will continue to speak. We will continue to challenge. We will continue to demand accountability. We will continue to fight for Lizzie – because she deserves safety, support and freedom from coercion. She deserves to be able to see the family that raised her and love her.

We are not going away. We love Lizzie today exactly as much as we did on the 21^st July 2023, the day she was taken. That has not changed, and it will not.

Jeremy Gladwell (Lizzie’s dad) on behalf of Lizzie’s family and Godparents

“One way an abuser can gain control is by cutting you off from the people who care about you. This is called isolation. Over time, this can make you feel like the abuser is the only person you can turn to.” (www.womenslaw.org)

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