Does anyone remember my thread in the summer about hearing someone locked in a shed?

[harman]

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At ten or 11 he is old enough to be asked what happened by the police. Whether he will tell is another thing, but at least they can try.

If they catch him in the shed, they will prosecute no matter what he says. If they can't catch him in the shed, all they will do is ask - and if he has had his life threatened to keep him quiet, he won't tell/

Please if you have even the slightest idea he might be in that shed please call 999.

I defo agree you must make that call. If it's nothing sinister then all is well but if it is dodgy you will have done the right thing.

Statemented child 9wouldn't get transport provided either) locked in shed= 999 call.

Poor little mite might not be able to tell!

Thing is, having kids with SN and not enough support could well have pushed this family over the edge and it might be saveable if SS intervene NOW, but SS are not the most reliable and sadly won't often do anything unless pushed.

So police. Definitely.

Agree with colditz its a 999.

Did you give your name or discuss anonymiyt with SS?

I have no idea what their protocol is, but I would take something far more seriously if someone gave their name - even if they said 'I don't want the family to know'. They must get so many maliscious calls....

Even if he is not there now, the Father will then be aware that someone has seen what he is doing. The police will inform SS anyway.

just by way of giving another point of view - i wouldn't phone police. even if they did call round (which i doubt they'd do), i doubt they would remove the child and their visit would only aggravate dad further and increase risk to child once alone with dad again.
i would phone ss and nspcc and ask that your concerns are documented. then keep reporting everytime you have a concern. SS are obligued to log all your calls and over time this will build up a picture they can not ignore.

Don't waste time with the SS call the police, its freezing today, poor little child if he is locked in the shed will be frozen.

Acutally after I posted I thought the same thing about the police, ie that it might make matters worse for the child.
Can the NSPCC help?

I'd keep a record of what you see/hear and calls you make.
Hope this poor lad is ok...

If they find a child locked in a shed, why would they not remove him? Surely they would!

As far as I understand - the police or social services have no power to remove a child without permission unless they have a court order. I am not sure of the position if the child is in immediate danger.

But that's up to the police. They can't make any decision until they know.

The more people who know about this the better.

KtyMac I think you're tight BUT if Dad is removed (ie arrrested if kid is in shed) that solves the prob anyway.

I think Fio's suggestion of the Children's Disability team is a good idea. He will/should be known to them.

As Peachy says it is easy for families to become overwhelmed with the responsibility and if he has severe communication/learning problems he may not be able to tell anyone.

(Which is why it made me so teary, I know my DS can't tell anyone if bad things happen to him - at nursery for instance)

sad fact is they'd likely assess that he's not in "immediate danger". they wouldn't remove child as there's v limited places to even take child to. they wouldn't remove dad imo, just caution him not to do it . even if they did take him away for questioning -it wouldn't be for long, they're not exactly going to lock him away are they?

IME, minimise risk by not involving police. ss will involve them if necessary.