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Original poster

baby burns to death in an oven

51 replies

whymummy · 23/04/2004 17:55

i've just read it on the evenng standard,he was 3 months old and the mum has been arrested under the mental health act,oh god poor little child

OP posts:
Janh · 23/04/2004 22:17

He was 3 months old though, mtj. Midwives only come up to 10 days? And HVs not for much longer. And that's assuming he had lived at the same address all the time and people knew he was there. There are an awful lot of gaps for children to fall through, especially in cities.

bunny2 · 23/04/2004 22:34

Oh my God. How horrible, I want to cry. Why the bloody hell didnt she put him up for adoption if she couldnt cope? Poor poor little boy.

eddm · 23/04/2004 22:37

Appalling tragedy.
JanH, can't let your comments about mental illness go unchallenged. It's this kind of prejudice that does so much harm to people who are ill and tormented. This woman may have been mentally ill and unable to understand what she was doing, I don't know and neither do you. But that's got nothing to do with the evil behaviour of Climbie's aunt who was never, ever described as having a mental illness. It's insulting to people who are suffering ill health and stigma to link them with her.
A huge majority of people who are mentally ill are no risk to anyone. Then there are a number who harm themselves ? the most common reason people are 'sectioned'. Then there are a tiny number who are a risk to other people. The problem is that people who are ill and need help are stigmatised because people think mental illness = dangerous/ criminal. And the point about the thread you mentioned is that not that people with mental illness are deliberately pretending to be ill and are OK when they are with a doctor. It's that when you put someone who is ill and confused in a certain environment with an authority figure they may act in a way that is different from the personality their family experiences. It happens with sane people too ? white coat hypertension for instance when your blood pressure shoots up at the surgery even if it's actually OK.

Janh · 23/04/2004 22:45

eddm, sorry, absolutely no offence intended, I just never actually heard what the reason was for her behaviour - still find it hard to believe that someone "normal" could do what she did.

I didn't mean that people "pretend" to be ill either - just that (as in that thread) the way they behave in the presence of professionals makes it hard for those professionals to realise the scale of the problem and maybe that's how this mother wasn't removed from the situation that allowed her to do what she did.

Presumably the word "devious" gave you the wrong impression - sorry - didn't mean it like that.

eddm · 23/04/2004 22:49

Phew, sorry if I came on a bit strong, just when I first read your post it did alarm me (have close family members who have had mental illness and society's attitude/ignorance can be frightening).

eddm · 23/04/2004 22:52

And yes, you are right, impossible to understand why anyone who was capable of thinking normally would do anything like that. Can only assume this mother must have been very ill and unable to cope or understand the consequences of her actions.

tigermoth · 24/04/2004 08:24

shocking story. I wonder if she was under the infuence of something - temporarily lost her sense of reality. She must have been unstable anyway. How did the police get alerted, I wonder? They arrived while it was happening so someone must have realised something was amiss.

MellyP · 09/05/2004 20:44

What a truly awful story. It's likely that the woman was suffering from some kind of severe post natal depression which can then trigger off (reactive) psychosis. The fact that she did what she did sounds like it may have been psychosis- poor woman and baby. It's so sad that it was not detected by the health system- mind you, I think that it can be easy to cover up post natal depression. Just have to put on a smiley face and say all the right things- but in reality, it is such a shock to the system

MellyP · 09/05/2004 20:45

(Having a baby can be a shock to the system- sorry, failed to clarify)

chrissey14 · 09/05/2004 20:49

individuals who may be have mental problems can aprrear tootally normal to the outside worl we will see once it has bee investgated

AussieSim · 25/05/2004 19:14

I really wish I never read this. I went away for the weekend to visit a friend and was apart from my DS for the first time. I had a dream that I put him in the oven to play (like it was the most natural thing in the world) and when he came out he was fine but then he showed me his tongue which was a bit burnt looking. So how guilty and neglectful was I feeling for leaving him then? Sorry, just had to share ...

CODalmighty · 25/05/2004 19:19

shall I not read it ten?

Janh · 25/05/2004 19:54

No, coddy.

aku · 27/05/2004 13:29

I was so horrified by this, to the point that I could'nt even bring myself to repeat it to anybosy

strangerthanfiction · 27/05/2004 21:19

I read this thread the day before yesterday and it's completely haunted me. Does anyone know any more information about it?

strangerthanfiction · 27/05/2004 21:36

Anyone? I'm not being morbid, I just want to try to understand so that my nightmares about it might get cancelled out.

trudles · 27/05/2004 22:04

what an awful world we live in how do you live with somthing like that yes she may be ill but theres gonna be a time when she's been treated and will have more insight into whats happenned I was thinking of doing my health visitor training but I would find it very hard dealing with situations like this.

strangerthanfiction · 28/05/2004 12:18

So, does anyone have any further information about this story?

KeyCODDYplayer · 28/05/2004 12:19

oh please no!

Soulfly · 28/05/2004 12:24

All i can say is OMG, what an awful way to die. Poor little baby, how awful.

So sad.

Janh · 28/05/2004 12:31

coddy, I think stf is wondering what happened afterwards, not wanting more details. I would be interested to know too.

strangerthanfiction · 28/05/2004 12:56

Yes, exactly that. I absolutely don't want any horrible details I just want (even need) to know a bit more about what happened next. I've tried to find something about it in newspapers online but had no luck.

lilibet · 28/05/2004 13:09

Who called the ambulance?

Its horrid, really really horrid

strangerthanfiction · 28/05/2004 15:05

That's the kind of thing I'd like to know too. Does anyone know how we can find out more details or access old news reports?

dinosaur · 28/05/2004 15:08

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