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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be horrified and heart broken by the Frankie Macritchie case

256 replies

frillyflamingo · 09/06/2020 16:42

Frankie Macritchie dog attack death: Mum Tawnee Willis jailed www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-52939564

I think the mother will be haunted by her actions for the rest of her life but Jesus fucking Christ, I can't believe anyone would think it was a good idea to leave a child alone with any dog, let alone a 7stone bull breed.

I love my dogs and I trust them with my life but there isn't a chance in hell I would leave them with my children for just a minute.

I'm sharing because it's easy to get complacent, especially when you have good natured dogs like mine.

I feel sad for everyone in this sad story but just desperately sad for what that little boy must have gone through that evening, alone.

OP posts:
FliesandPies · 09/06/2020 20:54

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ for repeating a deleted post.

Toddlerteaplease · 09/06/2020 21:04

We e had a couple of kids in at work on PICU in the last year, with life changing injuries cause by dog bites.

Pelleas · 09/06/2020 21:12

I really wish that it was much, much harder than it is for any bloody idiot to just go out and get a dog.

This. I am terribly worried about what will happen after lockdown, when people who have thoughtlessly rushed out to buy a pup at an inflated price suddenly have to resume normal life - just at the point the dog is entering its most difficult stage. (I don't include in this people whose carefully planned introduction of a dog happened to coincide with lockdown). There won't be any puppy classes happening and opportunities to introduce the dog to new people and experiences will have been limited. There will be an awful lot of poorly socialised impulse-bought dogs around in the next six months.

SudokuBook · 09/06/2020 21:18

I can't say I have any sympathy for the little boys mother, but I'm not really sure what the point of a prison sentence is? It's like closing the stable door after the horse has already bolted.

The same purpose as any prison sentence surely. No one would go to prison with this logic

SudokuBook · 09/06/2020 21:21

This was not an “error of judgment”. She is guilty of child neglect.

As for the other couple I would and have criticised them just the same, I don’t get why they need to be brought into everything though, it’s just whataboutery

FliesandPies · 09/06/2020 21:33

I don’t get why they need to be brought into everything though, it’s just whataboutery

No I don't see that. Just a high-profile part of a discussion on parenting, as it was 13 years ago.

WaxOnFeckOff · 09/06/2020 21:41

it's not whataboutery, there are clear parallels between the two situations that have amounted to vastly different treatments and outcomes. I can understand the differences and the way the circumstances panned out but class definitely has an impact.

Snowdown24 · 09/06/2020 21:48

The boy seemed fine to be left with the dog though? Do you think?

If it had a history of biting, how do we know the mum knew this?

The boy was still left with a strangers dog, but the chances of this happening are very slim!

The mistake was not leaving a 9 year old,
It was leaving him with a dog that he didn’t live with??

I’m not justifying the mother’s actions, I’m just asking questions, do you think it was intended for the boy to get hurt?

Parents that snort Coke and drink rarely feel remorse, sorrow or regret....so no, I don’t think she is living a nightmare, I think she probably won’t even care after time, horrible people with no soul, like her, just move on without a care.

Poor boy, I imagine his life, whilst not intolerable, was still pretty bad Sad

Floatyboat · 09/06/2020 21:50

Parents that snort Coke and drink rarely feel remorse, sorrow or regret

And you know this how?

Sootyandsweep2019 · 09/06/2020 22:05

Some vile people on this thread, sad enough a child has died in a horrific accident without people wanting to stick the boot in to the mother who made a terrible mistake.

Prison sentence totally unnecessary and cruel, she is not a danger society needs protecting from.

I am not a drinker or drug user but surprised people don't have the nuance to understand that you can make a mistake when drunk/ on drugs and regret it for the rest of your life.

Taking cocaine is not good, but it doesn't make you an unfeeling monster who doesn't care when your child dies FFS.

I think I'll s save my revulsion for the people who deliberately murder/ abuse children.

CheerfuIPotato · 09/06/2020 22:11

she is not a danger society needs protecting from

She was fucking dangerous to her own child.

FliesandPies · 09/06/2020 22:15

Taking cocaine is not good, but it doesn't make you an unfeeling monster who doesn't care when your child dies FFS.

That is true

the mother who made a terrible mistake.

That is not true. I hate hearing 'mistake' misused in this way, it seems so common these days. She didn't make a mistake, she made a decision - a decision to prioritse her own wants over her childs. The fact that the decision had horrific consequences doesn't make it a mistake.

Winterwoollies · 09/06/2020 22:15

@Spillinteas I have. Not as an inmate I hasten to add, but I have spent a lot of time in women’s prisons.

There will be no sympathy for this woman.

Abbazed · 09/06/2020 22:22

I could be wrong but allegedly I'd read the dog had attacked someone else before

Snowdown24 · 09/06/2020 22:40

@Floatyboat

Parents that snort Coke and drink rarely feel remorse, sorrow or regret

And you know this how?

If that’s too hard for you to figure out 🤦🏻‍♀️

try googling “what does being a parent, taking cocaine and drinking at the same time do to you” that should help.Hmm

Floatyboat · 09/06/2020 22:47

@snowdown

I don't understand sorry.

Movinghouseatlast · 09/06/2020 22:52

Awful, awful, awful. I live very nearby and everyone was so upset. Knowing the details now justvmakrs it so much worse. I have no idea how anyone could do that.

Trevsadick · 09/06/2020 23:00

What was the mistake?

Leaving her son with a dog that has attacked a boy before? Her friends dog, so she likely knew.

Maybe the mistake was trusting her coke head friend? Whose was more insterested in smoking weed, doing coke and drinking than the potential consequences.

Do you trust people, who you know do this shit? Trust them enough to risk your child's life with?

Was the mistake, deciding to smoke weed, drink and snort coke while in sole charge of a minor? Leave him alone until 4.30am?

Non of those are mistakes. Those are choices. Her priority was getting smashed. Not the potential consequences to her child.

And no, it won't be the first time. It wouldn't have been the last either. How many times and from what age do you think she was leaving him to get high?

People who take coke do often lack a conscience and it becomes all consuming. They don't care about the crime associated with it. Tje sex trafficking, gun crime, knife crime, murders etc. They dont care they are neglecting their child so they can get off their face.

She broke the law. She neglected her child. Her neglect, led to her sons death. As a consequence, she went to prison. Thats how it works. She had a legal obligation to him.

If someone actions caused the death of a child that wasn't their biological child, i bet you would expect a prison sentance. But somehow its not needed because she is the mother?

Trevsadick · 09/06/2020 23:01

I think I'll s save my revulsion for the people who deliberately murder/ abuse children.

Child neglect IS child abuse.

frillyflamingo · 09/06/2020 23:46

@Winterwoollies thank you actually you've made some great points. I had assumed her emotional attachment as a mother by putting my own emotion into the situation- as a mother I can't even imagine how I'd feel but as a mother it's a situation I would never have happened upon to begin with.

"Mistake" is absolutely the wrong thing to call this. Even if she didn't know that her friends dog had already attacked another child, this was not a mistake.

OP posts:
SudokuBook · 10/06/2020 00:08

Prison sentence totally unnecessary and cruel, she is not a danger society needs protecting from.

That is not the only function of prison. It also serves the purpose of punishment/retribution

I am not a drinker or drug user but surprised people don't have the nuance to understand that you can make a mistake when drunk/ on drugs and regret it for the rest of your life.

Which is why being smashed, stoned and incapable is not a position any half decent parent would put themselves in whilst responsible for a child.

The woman is scum and I hope she gets her head kicked in on a daily basis.

buildingbridge · 10/06/2020 00:13

A lot of Mumsnetters on here smoke weed and I don't seen them getting rebuked as much.. just a thought.

What happened to the boy is unforgivable. I love the idea of owning a dog, but I just can't. I'm worried something like this or similar will happen to my own DC.

coldlighthappier · 10/06/2020 00:20

The picture I saw of the mum outside the court she didn’t even look sad, she was wearing a mask but that isn’t the face of a devastated woman who is going to live with this weighing her down for the rest of her life.

To be horrified and heart broken by the Frankie Macritchie case
LadyConstanceDeCoverlet · 10/06/2020 00:56

FFS, @coldlighthappier, the picture shows a tiny fraction of a second of the woman's life, with most of her face obscured anyway. It's absolutely ludicrous to draw all those conclusions from it.

Trevsadick · 10/06/2020 01:00

A lot of Mumsnetters on here smoke weed and I don't seen them getting rebuked as much.. just a thought.

And what?

We cant be outraged unless we have had a go at mners for smoking weed?

Smoking weed is a million miles away from smoking weed, doing coke and drinking.

Besides which, personally I don't even drink in sole charge of the kids.

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