Hairdresser's testimony at Tustin trial

[FallingStar21]

I know there have been several threads discussing various details around the case.. But having read the complete timeline and hairdresser's testimony, i just absolutely cannot believe that neither she or her partner called the police!
For example, she had been at Tustin's house doing her hair for 4 hours and Arthir made to sit at a table and not move for the entire time. She says she just thought he'd been naughty or something. No alarm bells ringing, really?
Different time she witnessed Arthur made to stand by the door, but not move or lean on the door etc.. Arthur given a sandwich to eat by the door while Tustin eating in the garden with the other kids... No alarm bells.
Witnessing Arthur being shouted at horrible words.
Finally, hairdresser at Tustin's with her (hairdresser's) partner seeing Arthur so frail and by their own accounts "petrified". They know Arthur had been deprived of water, because hairdresser's partner gives him a glass of water in secret... a glass, which Arthur cant even hold up to his mouth (all in their testimony) ...No Alarm bells, no nothing?!
If they were previously unsure whether they needed to do something, that last account couldn't have been more crystal clear.
I know legally it's viewed differently, but IMO these people are almost complicit in this... They too, had the responsibility to protect him once they'd seen what they saw, which was really black and white.
Just cant believe it.

Funding is clearly an issue, services are very stretched. Lockdown also played a part.
I don't think more funding is the complete answer though. I think the entire system needs rethinking.
At present social work training is generic. Whether they are going to work with the elderly, disability services, hospital Social work, mental health, child protection etc. Social Workers all do the same training.
I would suggest that Child Protection workers should have to do further post graduate training and be better paid.
There should also be a specialised section in the police force (there already is but it should be further developed and it should be mandatory for other police personnel to involve them).
Joint working between police and social services should be further developed.
The Family courts need reforming.
Attitudes to the extended family by the police and lack of thoroughness by Social Services contributed to this. It wasn't just lack of resources.
I don't think child protection social workers, CAFCASS officers etc are sufficiently well trained in either psychology or law or in examining their own prejudices. They have very difficult jobs discerning who to believe when people can be very manipulative.
Of course all this would be costly.

@VikingOnTheFridge

Bagels the point I'm making is that even an anonymous report would likely have led to the authorities realising they had broken the covid regulations, because they would've been visible in the house CCTV.

They wouldn’t have been. If they didn’t know they were at the hairdressers house they wouldn’t have had cause to check the hairdressers cctv (in the hairdressers house). The hairdresser and boyfriend didn’t go to Tustins house (it was the other way round) so they wouldn’t have appeared on Tustins cctv and therefore wouldn’t have been implicated- unless of course Tustin told them where she was or where she was going, which is possible but then she’d be in trouble herself for getting her hair done during lockdown.

Good interesting post anonymous.

I thought one of the main critics of Peter case said that there was no linking up between agencies so I struggle to believe its happened again when computer systems are so amazing.

Good idea on the special police section too.
I'm not sure about post graduate training though.
On a very good thread not long ago people said sw sometimes have too much theory and not enough on the job training and that you can't teach instincts, professional curiosity etc. I assume part of the degree involves on the job training?
It's a fine line to walk, when they first met tustin at that point they didn't know what would happen. They can't go in guns blazing because from their pov they need to investigate and they may have had to do further on going "work" "with them so they have to consider the relationship.
Sw are supposed to be tyere to help families after all.
This is why I think in this situation, this wasn't a report about a mum struggling and shouting too much or dc presenting at school dirty, this was a grandma whom they child had lived with saying she's concerned and showing them a picture of an extremely bad bruise.

I really feel the wrong approach was used.

Bagels and viking, sadly I don't have think the hairdresser nor her bf were agonising over how to report.
They must had been shocked however that the same day poor Arthur died.

His life could possibly have been saved if the hairdresser and/ or partner had called 999 and reported to police and said an ambulance was needed. Cannot understand how they could ignore.

The reason I suggest post graduate training is that instinct can be problematic, it can be linked to your own prejudice and sometimes inexperienced social workers go out without a completely clear understanding of procedures and the law.
I think for a very responsible job like this you need a grounding in theory and also a lot of guided practical experience. (Similar to a doctor).
Arranging care packages for people leaving hospital or practical support for ill and disabled people isn't quite the same job imo but it's all called Social Work and all on the same pay grade.

Oh iswym re CCTV bagels.

I think child protection social workers, like many jobs now, need more on the job training and less classroom based stuff.

I also think one of the major ways of helping kids would be to somehow find a way to encourage more people from disadvantaged backgrounds to get into that line of work as it would help breakdown that "posh twat social worker comes here telling us all how to live..." issue. How that could be done I have no idea though.

I've never met a posh social worker. I'm sure they exist, but if they do, they aren't in Thanet. One who sticks in my mind just before I left, was functionally illiterate. I mean - really odd to refer to it as 'rest bite' care when you've presumably seen 'respite' written down several thousand times in your three years at University.

Arranging care packages for people leaving hospital or practical support for ill and disabled people isn't quite the same job imo but it's all called Social Work and all on the same pay grade.

At one time they were different. Hospital medical social workers were called Almoners, and there were Child Welfare Officers. I From what I remember the old systems were considered too fragmented. A late 60s report called the Seebohm Report led to the current system, from what I recall. Maybe that system has now broken down, or maybe not implemented fully?

Politically though, there is insufficient will to do anything about social work now, and certain right wing politicians would be more than happy to scrap as many aspects of the Welfare State as they could.

@LetHimHaveIt

I've never met a posh social worker. I'm sure they exist, but if they do, they aren't in Thanet. One who sticks in my mind just before I left, was functionally illiterate. I mean - really odd to refer to it as 'rest bite' care when you've presumably seen 'respite' written down several thousand times in your three years at University.

I've encountered a few over the years. However, posh is always subjective.

Even a couple of social workers from the next town, which is very average, are considered 'posh' by some of the families.

The point was more about having more social workers from the most disadvantaged areas, but the stigma of social workers being nosy/spies/child snatchers/busy bodies would have to be broken down a bit more first.

@lollipoprainbow

Nothing would have happened even if they did report it ! No one took a blind bit of notice when the grandmother reported the huge bruise.

No I doubt anything would have happened BUT they still should have reported it. It's disgusting that they didn't.

As I said before, I really hope they can't sleep at night feeling guilty.

What sticks with me is them saying they passed him a glass of water in secret that he couldn’t actually hold. No suspicions of a child in danger here. This is an actual in your face issue

Can we also spare a thought for the millions of trafficked children in illegal children's homes globally, and those on the streets and in prostitution.

We're a global community. Those are our children too and we can apply pressure as a developed nation.

Peregrina I think the Seebohm report was unfortunate, a lot of expertise was lost at the time. Social work has become more differentiated again but the training is still generic.
I agree with your point that there isn't much political will to do anything about it and that right wing politicians would like to disinvest in all Social care.
I don't care if people see Social workers as posh or not as long as they are capable of doing the job.
I have worked with both Child protection social workers and CAFCASS and found that the training and pay was insufficient for the job.
I came across a lot of instances where people allowed their personal experiences and prejudices cloud their professional judgement.
I think they are extremely difficult jobs.
Clinical psychologists for example have much longer training and better pay but don't have to make the difficult decisions.

Anybody else think this kid didn't stand a chance beginning with his biological mother

@Tevion28

Anybody else think this kid didn't stand a chance beginning with his biological mother

I think he could have stood a chance if he his life wasn't dismissed as sheer incompetence on the part of some. Lack if funding is not an excuse for basic human error. To

@bagelsandbrie, unbelievable! Like you said, hairdresser obviously didnt even spare a thought for poor Arthur, practically on his last breath while she was gleefully busy with her business and posting about competitions. It also makes sense that they would have been summoned, rather than coming forward by own accord.
And talking about her and her partner + social services does not detract from anything. These people could have saved his life, regardless of their profession or "Official" responsibility.
Fully agree with those who said that funding is needed but not a magical wand - a social worker is still expected to do their job. Turning up and readily accepting a potential abuser's explanation and then interviewing both boys in the next room..by asking them to jump if they felt safe and happy.
Even basic training (or instinct as someone said) should be telling them that a 6 year old child may not be able to articulate or differentiate abuse; that he might be scared to talk with abusers at the same house; that he may have been coached, etc, etc. No report should be dismissed this easily, even if there is 0 funding!
If this is standard practice for conducting their investigations, no wonder so many vulnerable children are let down.

Whole load of dysfunctional rubbish poor kid been born into that lot makes my blood boil and there are plenty more like them them thick as shit and evil as well

His biological mother must be genuinely heartbroken but I felt her tribute owed it to Arthur to acknowledge that she had been one of the adults in his life who had let him down. Without that it seemed like yet another gloss on child abuse and child neglect. And strangely detached from the reality, which is that she wasn't there, being his mother, as a result of her own actions, leaving Emma or any other woman who liked free to fill the role. And she wasn't going to be there for the rest of his childhood.

@Alltheblue

His biological mother must be genuinely heartbroken but I felt her tribute owed it to Arthur to acknowledge that she had been one of the adults in his life who had let him down. Without that it seemed like yet another gloss on child abuse and child neglect. And strangely detached from the reality, which is that she wasn't there, being his mother, as a result of her own actions, leaving Emma or any other woman who liked free to fill the role. And she wasn't going to be there for the rest of his childhood.

Quite.

We can't abandon our children then complain they suffered as a result.

@Alltheblue

His biological mother must be genuinely heartbroken but I felt her tribute owed it to Arthur to acknowledge that she had been one of the adults in his life who had let him down. Without that it seemed like yet another gloss on child abuse and child neglect. And strangely detached from the reality, which is that she wasn't there, being his mother, as a result of her own actions, leaving Emma or any other woman who liked free to fill the role. And she wasn't going to be there for the rest of his childhood.

I agree with this.

My point exactly he was doomed from the start with her as his mother.

Maybe not if she hadn't turned to drink and drugs. She seemed like a good mum. But who does that with the murdering her partner? I can only think she was high.

I don't want to make this about me but I feel so un-utterably depressed about this awful case. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm not a naive person but it's so hard to think such evil exists. if only it hadn't been a lockdown he might have been saved.