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AIBU?

To think Julie Bushby (Karen Matthew's BF) is no hero

27 replies

ApplePaltrow21 · 28/02/2017 19:13

Sorry to bring this up but I am so annoyed having just read this article about the "hero" of The Moorside, Julie Bushby.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/shannon-matthews-others-were-involved-in-fake-kidnap-reveals-karens-best-friend-julie-bushby_uk_58b426dfe4b0a8a9b78418fd?utm_hp_ref=uk

Julie Bushby thinks that Karen didn't really organize the kidnapping and was not motivated by money. I could live with that but she also urges Shannon to get in touch with people on the estate! WTF!! That's completely disgusting to me.

I generally didn't like The Moorside because it made it look as if it was a happy home until the kidnapping when there were multiple abuse claims made against Karen Matthews (the kids were beaten, went without food and generally lived in squalor) and Shannon asked the police not to go back to her parents. Shannon's lucky to be away from them, now living with another family under an anonymous name and she clearly doesn't want to speak to anyone or she would.

Is it me or isn't this definitive proof that Karen Bushby is no community hero? She was happy to organize a search party or two but she certainly didn't intervene to save those children from abuse when they lived at home and is now trying to pressure and guilt a poor child abuse victim into reestablishing contact with her abusive family?

Why is this woman held up as a hero? She makes me sick. The real heroes are the social workers who got that poor child away from those people.

OP posts:

Report

DearMrDilkington · 28/02/2017 19:22

When your brought up in a similar childhood it can be difficult to understand what's real neglect and abuse.

ShoutOutToMyEx · 28/02/2017 19:26

Agree with Dilkington, although that of course doesn't make it right.

I got really pissed off with all the banging on about the estate's community and helping each other when that programme was on. Those kids were neglected, abused physically and probably sexually, and no one did a thing. You can't tell me no one knew something wasn't right.

DearMrDilkington · 28/02/2017 19:34

My dp grew up on a similar estate, the families were all very similar to those on moorisde programme. The majority grew up in abusive and violent homes, it becomes normal. Then if they see a child being treated the same way, a lot of them don't see anything different to what they're used to. It doesn't shock them as it happened to them and they turned out 'fine'.

It took my dp a long to realise what a messed up childhood he had and I think if I hadn't helped him see how abusive it was then he'd still think it was normal.

It's horrible but it's very difficult to break the cycle.

bumsexatthebingo · 28/02/2017 19:41

I don't think Julie knew Karen before Shannon went missing though so I don't think she can be criticised for not speaking out about previous neglect etc. I did wonder why the other friend hadn't said anything though.

NotStoppedAllDay · 28/02/2017 19:43

Yeah I also thought they didn't know each other for long.

BillSykesDog · 28/02/2017 19:45

She's an ordinary person. She doesn't have a PR team behind her telling her what to say. She's probably not very bright either.

You also seem to be implying that everyone on that estate is a danger to Shannon purely because they live on that estate. Which is a bit unpleasant and seems to assume everyone who lives on an estate is scum.

It's widely known that Karen Matthews was only an acquaintance of Bushby's and not a close friend. So she may well not have known exactly what was going on with the children.

Social services were involved with the family but didn't believe any threshold for action had been reached as they believed it was low level neglect and Matthews cooperated when they intervened. We don't know if Bushby made reports or tried to support Matthew's parenting. I certainly don't think she did anything worth any bile.

OneWithTheForce · 28/02/2017 19:48

If she was only an acquaintance then the dramatisation got it massively Wrong!

OneWithTheForce · 28/02/2017 19:50

Social services were involved with the family but didn't believe any threshold for action had been reached as they believed it was low level neglect and Matthews cooperated when they intervened.

Nope. Several of the children had been on the child protection register because KM failed to co-operate and protect her children from sexual abusers. Shannon had been on the register until a year before she was kidnapped.

zeeboo · 28/02/2017 19:53

The Moorside also pissed me off because of the beautiful bedroom Shannon had in the drama when real photos of the inside of the house at the time revealed the place was a total pit.

wineandtoastfortea · 28/02/2017 19:54

Completely agree OP

BillSykesDog · 28/02/2017 19:59

Force, I know she was on the child protection register. Perhaps I should have been clearer and said the threshold for 'removal' rather than 'action'. As I said SS intervened. But it was to support KMs parenting and deal with issues like school attendance and getting her to send the kids to school clean, dressed and fed. And when they

BillSykesDog · 28/02/2017 20:01

Sorry, didn't mean to press. When they intervened Matthews cooperated and the situation improved. So she was removed from the register and removal was never considered.

PlumsGalore · 28/02/2017 20:03

Can someone point me to the real life bedroom that a previous poster described as a pit. According to google images it wasn't a pit, it may not have been to my Laura Ashley standard but a pit? Seriously?

I come from an area about 15 miles from the Matthews, how much do we REALLY know about this story?

OneWithTheForce · 28/02/2017 20:05

Ah ok bill I see what you mean now.

BonnyScotland · 28/02/2017 20:11

I think everyone concerned with this case and community deserves credit where credit due... a magnificent show of human strength and character which overcame the poverty the social problems and the lack of resources... Julie Bushby is just one of many people who put heart and soul into find this young girl....

and what is a Hero.... ? they are all Heroes x

Twogoats · 28/02/2017 20:13

Karen Matthews is no hero!

KingJoffreysRestingCuntface · 28/02/2017 20:14

The bedroom in the drama was also a pit. The whole house was.

The set design people went OTT with the mess, clutter and bad decor.

ApplePaltrow21 · 28/02/2017 20:18

PlumsGalore

The prior neighbors reported them to social services multiple times (not any of the "heroes" on the show, mind). Said the house will filthy, kids dirty etc.

Honestly, I just wish they would stop praising people who clearly (at best) don't know right from wrong. If the best you can say about these women is that they don't know any better than to facilitate and abet abuse, I wish they'd stop putting them on This Morning and giving them a voice. The only people talking about the case should be the police/social worker.

OP posts:

angeldelightedme · 28/02/2017 20:19

Shannon's lucky to be away from them, now living with another family under an anonymous name and she clearly doesn't want to speak to anyone or she would.
1)She is an adult now, and
2) what makes you think she is not in contact with childhood friends and people from her estate

HarryPottersMagicWand · 28/02/2017 20:19

Are you one of them bonny? Claiming they are all heroes is a really odd thing to say. None of them are.

"hero
ˈhɪərəʊ/Submit
noun
1.
a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
"a war hero"

TheFirstMrsDV · 28/02/2017 20:22

People are desperate to find only heros or villains in this story.
The reality is that the vast majority of people are neither or both depending on a whole heap of things.

The media have decided that JB is a working class hero, a chav with a heart of gold. That will cause weird resentment in a lot of people, most who have never met her and have nothing to do with anyone in this sorry tale.

She is just a woman who was involved in an example of child abuse that caught the public's eye. Unlike the thousands of cases that are simply not interesting enough make the papers.

I don't think that many people care about SM in the way they say they do. They just like the luridness of it all.

ApplePaltrow21 · 28/02/2017 20:23

a magnificent show of human strength and character which overcame the poverty the social problems and the lack of resources.

that's exactly the point. No they didn't. they didn't find the girl. they didn't do anything for the children when they were being abused. the entire community failed - it's a failed community of failures. there's nothing admirable there. it shouldn't be celebrated.

.. Julie Bushby is just one of many people who put heart and soul into find this young girl....

she did nothing. she achieved nothing. she still doesn't even care about that girl. she'd rather that shannon came back to be abused by her crappy failures of parents.

Shannon was a way for her to feel important. If she truly cared about her, knowing the details of the case, she'd wish her well. Instead she wants her back in the squalor and grime of that estate. I wish people would stop putting her on tv.

OP posts:

OneWithTheForce · 28/02/2017 20:26

I agree there are no heroes in that case. It was horrible from end to end. Extremely depressing. Julie Bushby was and is after her 15 minutes of fame and her OBE for being the community glue/cheerleader/champion.

OneWithTheForce · 28/02/2017 20:28

overcame the poverty the social problems and the lack of resources.

What? just what are you on about? She overcame nothing. She courted the media while it was there, neglecting her own children then got back to her life exactly as it was before just with one less neighbour.

HarryPottersMagicWand · 28/02/2017 21:28

Yes, after her 15 minutes of famemismthe impression I get too. Why else would she be doing these interviews and going on tv, probably being paid nicely for it too.

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