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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to leave my children in the car? Doctor who did this now on police and SS register...

123 replies

robberbutton · 04/08/2009 15:59

My friend told me today about a doctor who was placed on the police and social services register after leaving his 8 year old in the car while he went to the bank - HERE.

I was absolutely horrified - according to the story he did leave his kid for 20 mins, which was a long time and I've never left mine for that long, but I have left them - popping into the library to drop a book off, post office car park to pick up a parcel, chemists to pick up a prescription, petrol station to go and pay...

This is not horrendous, neglectful, social-services-warrenting behaviour, right? I have vivid childhood memories of being left in the car to wait while mum did similar errands, and of pushing all the buttons on the dashboard...

(PS - I know this story is a bit old, apologies if there's another thread about this, did look but couldn't find one.)

OP posts:

seeker · 04/08/2009 22:21

This has to be complete and utter bullsh*t. There is now ay on earth a child would be placed on the "at risk" register for this -either that are on the register because of all sorts of stuff that didn't make the article, or they aren't on it al all, and either the dr in question or the paper have some sort of ax to grind.

msled · 04/08/2009 22:23

Seeker, the report says nothing about being on the 'at risk' register. but as Sidge explains there will have been a report made and sent to education and social services and all sorts - for no reason whatsoever. Just as the report says. There is no reason to think it is inaccurate.

Sidge · 04/08/2009 22:25

Sorry I should have said misinterpreted not misreported (trying to watch TV and MN at the same time!)

But Msled the police may have deemed him to be at risk - maybe when they saw him in the car they had no idea where an adult was, how long he had been there and how much longer he would be alone. The police have to make a decision based on the info they have before them and possibly at that time they thought there was a risk.

msled · 04/08/2009 22:28

But the minute they spoke to him (and his dad) they should have realised he was NOT at risk. ie he was eight years old, peacefully playing on his nintendo, window open, perfectly able to open a window/door etc so no report was necessary at all.
Jeez, Milly-Molly-Mandy would have been put into care by this reckoning. All that getting on a bus by herself

seeker · 04/08/2009 22:36

So what is the SS register? Is it different from the At Risk register? And why are people talking about this man having problems with future CRB checks?

K999 · 04/08/2009 22:39

The whole thing is so stupid. Even if the dad had been prosecuted, the whole case would have been thrown out of court!! Neglect?? I dont think so!

MissSunny · 04/08/2009 22:40

Message withdrawn

SixtyFootDoll · 04/08/2009 22:41

There is the 'At Risk ' register
Children go onto this following a case conference - consisting of agencies involved with those children.
These children receive close monitoring from SS.
AChild certainly wouldnt be placced onto it for a one off incident as described..
There is no other register, although children may be 'known' to SS for other reasons adn also be involved witht hem

K999 · 04/08/2009 22:44

I have left dd in the car for up to 1 hour when she was sleeping....in the driveway and with windows open.... and she was only 6 months!!

edam · 04/08/2009 22:45

All this confusion about registers and records is interesting.

The police said: "An officer will submit a report that outlines the circumstances around how the young person came to their attention. This then allows information to be shared with our partners for the protection of that child and their siblings in the broadest terms."

I suspect what they are talking about is Contactpoint - this new database where SS/education/health/milly molly mandy et al can record 'concerns' about a child. It's been brought in without any public consultation, and all our children have been stuck on it without us being informed.

Only excepting VIPs - because the database cannot be secure, so their precious details won't be risked. Unlike those of the rest of us, the common herd.

Original proposals for Contactpoint were that two red flags would provoke a child protection conference. Which would a. overwhelm social workers who already have to spend 80% of their time feeding computers rather than being able to do their job. And b. harass and distress perfectly innocent, law-abiding families.

Ridiculous. The officers in this particular case need re-training, and so do their bosses. The only cause for reporting a family is if a child is at risk of or is actually being harmed. Clearly an 8yo left in the car for 20 minutes is not.

Pan · 04/08/2009 22:53

so dd wants to stay in the car playing games on my phone whilst I am in tesco for about 20 mins.

is this frowned upon??

Pan · 04/08/2009 22:54

dd is 9 and hates shopping.

K999 · 04/08/2009 22:54

Yes it is Pan and you shall go to prison for a very very long time....

Sidge · 04/08/2009 22:55

In our county there is no such thing as a child protection 'register' any more. Children can be subject to a child protection plan, which is what used to be known as 'being on the register'.

Or they can be known as a Child in Need, which would warrant Children's Services intervention and support but not necessarily the level of intensity that being subject to a plan would be.

edam - the police may have been referring to CYPs, rather than Contactpoint. We're not using Contactpoint but we do receive CYPs (police reports). CYPS don't automatically lead to a CP conference but if any of the agencies that receive them see a pattern or receive frequent CYPS then further enquiries can be made.

edam · 04/08/2009 22:57

Ah, I see (I think...).

SixtyFootDoll · 04/08/2009 22:57

I am a Police Officer and I have left my DS in the car whilst I nipped in the shop.
What this article shows is that there is no room for discretion any more.
EVERYTHING has to be recorded.
EVERYTHING has to be referred..just in case.
Because if its not and something then goes wrong, then it is our fault.
Most of what is done is what we call 'arse covering'
Shame isnt it?

MissSunny · 04/08/2009 23:08

Message withdrawn

RubberDuck · 04/08/2009 23:49

The CRB issue was highlighted in the earlier article re the Sunday school teacher. You do not have to be charged, it appears, for it to be flagged on your police record that you are unsuitable to work with children.

I can't do a link ATM but it's on the list of previous articles in one of the left embedded boxes in the linked article in the OP.

As I understand it the changes were brought in to protect us against an Ian Huntley repeat where he was accused/investigated several times but never charged so his crb was clean.

onagar · 04/08/2009 23:52

Well I'd believe anything since I saw on here the other day that a social worker considered leaving a 12yo alone in the house an offence.

Someone made a good point about it being possible to steal kids from gardens. There is no such thing as keeping them totally safe, just reasonably safe.

RubberDuck · 05/08/2009 00:01

Incidentally another article in the telegraph states specifically that the whole family has been placed on social service and police registers:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5816957/Criminalising-the-middle-classes.html

Lusi · 05/08/2009 00:12

Oh I'm could be in so much trouble...
I sometimes leave DD1(8) in the car 'keeping an eye on' a sleeping (or even awake) DD2 (now 2.5 but have done it since she was born) whilst I take the shoping down to the house, or pop into the local shop or pay for petrol...

When we go to the chip shop (rarely) I let DD1 go in and get them on her own - she loves it, she feels all grown up...but she could easily be snatched from there or choke on thin air or the chip shop could spontaneous combust and if I was there somehow or other I could stop it (I do sneakily check she is ok though...more worried about her getting confused and losing confidence though)

Recently I even left DD1 alone in the house for about 15 mins whilst I went to the local shop (took DD2 with me) -DP was late home (due any minute) and the shop was about to close and we had no milk...and she was would miss the end of a favourite TV program...

Basically if a 7/8 yr old can'look out for themselves for a few minutes then Natural Selection should kick in...

Pan · 05/08/2009 00:16

yes, there is a 'list' held in Dept. of Education, and prob. SSDs that name those considered unsuitable for working with children, with or without any conviction. It is called the 101 list - don't know why 101...sounds a little 1984'ish but it's there, for good or ill.

Pan · 05/08/2009 00:32

RubberDuck - the list much pre-dated Ian Huntly, btw - I have been aware of it from the mid 1980s.

Ozziegirly · 05/08/2009 03:58

It must be so weird being a child now, having a parent hovering around you all the time.

I was on the bus to school at 7, heading into London by myself on the train at 13/14, went to Australia by myself at 16, taking 5 different planes to get there (the joy of cheap Air Garuda) and my parents regularly left me for the evening from about 9 or 10.

It amazes me that it has changed so much in one generation. I'm only 31 so not that elderly.

Mumcentreplus · 05/08/2009 06:02

I remember coming back home alone on the plane from Antigua I was 5..curse my mother for allowing me to stay an extra 2 weeks with my Aunt

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