Girl Left Home Alone

[FriendlyConcern43]

I am a concerned neighbour who is looking for advice.

Our neighbour is a single man in his mid-fifties who for years made regular trips abroad to Thailand where he met a woman and ended up having a child. The girl, who we now believe to be about 10 or 11 years of age, has come to the UK and moved in permanently with him.

The dad is a taxi driver, working long, irregular hours, especially on a Friday night and over the weekend where it's not uncommon for him to return home in the early hours of the morning.

This is where our concerns begin because the girl who speaks very little English and comes across as immature for her age is left home alone for long periods of time. The dad barely looks capable of being able to take care of himself, let alone a child.

Does anyone have any advice on what we should do?

Do you know if/where she attends school?

Do you know if the child attends school?
If she does I think I would start there and share your concerns with the HT.
Poor kid. It sounds lonely and sad for her.

I wonder how he managed to get her a passport and bring her here?

Or you can directly ring your local social services, details here: www.gov.uk/report-child-abuse

Or 999 if you believe them to be at immediate risk to danger

Call social care if you are worried about a child. It is the professionals' job to decide what/if anything to do about information they receive, so don't worry about that.

I’m a social worker - my advice would be to call Police when he has gone to work and left her alone. They will use their knowledge and judgement to decide whether to take immediate action or refer to social care. I’d be very surprised if they were okay with a 10 year old being left along at night.

On a personal level, I think it’s really awful. He may have to work to make ends meet, but 10 is very young to be alone at night, anything could happen.