How many generations back did it go wrong for Arthur

[iwanttobeonleave]

The awful case of Arthur L-H has got me thinking about the long term causes of these situations. Clearly all three adults involved were completely despicable but why? What's caused this and where did it go wrong?

Can this level of disfunction happen in one generation or would there be a history of it if one looked back a few generations?

Just such a completely desperate case, the poor, poor child.

@EsmeraldaFudge

His birth mother went to public school and was in her third year at university when she met his father. She then descended into drunk and drug addiction.

And yet most of the focus is on the “evil step mother”. It seems the poor little boys father is far more responsible than the headlines suggest.

Why did no one do anything? Why didn’t the grandparents pick him up from school one say and refuse to give him
Back? Why did so many people stand by why he suffered? I’m heartbroken by this story. It’s so disgusting that no one felt it was their duty to rescue him.

In the other direction that fabric can be repaired again: there was an horrific murder in my family but the children who lived through it brought up families that were functioning, indeed caring and loving.

@waterlego

‘Public’ Schools are a specific group of private schools. The definition has varied over time, but originally referred to just seven independent schools (some mentioned above). All boys’ schools, I think. Nowadays, more schools are included in the term, but not all independent schools are public schools, I don’t think.

Public schools are members of the Headmasters Conference. I think it was originally for the more elite schools. My children are at one which I was surprise to learn, it’s a good school but certainly not Eton 😂

And so sad he will not be the last. The UK is pathetic for responsibility and punishment.

Both of them will have a bed, warmth, and food for 30 years at the cost of the tax payer, something arthur didn't have. Hope they die.

@Angliski

Why did no one do anything? Why didn’t the grandparents pick him up from school one say and refuse to give him Back? Why did so many people stand by why he suffered? I’m heartbroken by this story. It’s so disgusting that no one felt it was their duty to rescue him.

His grandparents and uncle tried and were told by social services there was no concern. The uncle spoke to the police and said he would go round to the house- he was told he would be arrested.

Yes she seems a good woman. She is a secondary school teacher and reported concerns over her grandson twice, desperately.

@CloudyStorms

His mother isn't the one responsible for his death here so I'm a bit uncomfortable with her past being seen as where it went wrong tbh. There are two people responsible for his death.

She is responsible for someone’s death. I am sure that man’s mother doesn’t feel so benevolent towards her.

She killed someone’s child in a drunk and drug fuelled rage. At the time she met the victim she was semi involved with Arthur’s father and assaulted him more than once.

I sincerely hope that she is free of addiction and when she is released in a few years can live a productive life. But I would hope she would evaluate her suitability as a parent in the future.

I'm actually surprised ET aborted. Being pregnant, would she not have felt safer from abuse from other prisoners, as surely staff would add extra layers of protection?

She seemed all about protecting herself so I found this odd.

Solihull School is a member of the Headmasters'/Headmistesses' Conference (HMC) which comprises what might loosely be described as leading independent schools. You'd probably know the names of quite a few.

Unless the school was responsible for Arthur's mother's descent into drugs, alcohol and bad choice in men, I don't see what relevance where she went to school has. She didn't murder him. Her chaotic lifestyle was the catalyst, perhaps, in what followed but there seems to have been precious little oversight into the care and protection of Arthur throughout his short life. I read that the Family Court decided that he should live with his father,but as their decisions are never reported, it's impossible to know how that decision was reached.

He should surely have been on someone's radar as a very vulnerable child and at least spoken to alone.

I know someone on the sociopathy spectrum who has wonderful parents and had a wonderful childhood. sociopathy/psycopathy is a genetic trait. Like height. It can be influenced and made worse by environmental factors, and sometimes environmental factors are not needed for people to exhibit this behaviour. I think Hughes and the step mother were both on this spectrum in spades. About 2 percent of the population are. About the same number that they said would die of Covid. So it is not rare, it is likely they are both just wired that way. Total assholes both of them. Hope fellow prisoners show them some true justice.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

I see. I have no words.

It was possibly the only kind thing she has ever done for any child.

Not sure an abortion at 21 weeks is particularly kind for the foetus. horrific at that gestation. Babies born not much later survive.

Much kinder than being born to parents in prison for murdering your brother, and spending your life in the care system , run byvthe social services whose incompetence contributed to his death.

Considering how rare it is for women to commit murder, it is interesting that Thomas Hughes managed to form relationships with 2 women who went on to do this in a relatively short period of time. It will be fascinating to read some psychological analysis of him.

@Antiqueanniesmagiclanternshow

Much kinder than being born to parents in prison for murdering your brother, and spending your life in the care system , run byvthe social services whose incompetence contributed to his death.

Agreed.

@EsmeraldaFudge

His birth mother went to public school and was in her third year at university when she met his father. She then descended into drunk and drug addiction.

Not sure what that proves.

Do you think people who go to university aren't abused as children?

The vast majority of people with drink and drug issues have a history of some kind of trauma.

@CagneyNYPD1

Arthur's paternal grandmother reported her own son to ss because of bruising to Arthur. This tells me that she is a good person. Only 2 people know why they did what they did and those 2 will never speak the truth.

I hope that Tustin's 4 biological children get the help and support they need in the near and long term future.

And the Grandfathers?

Well ET seemed to have a lot of baggage before she met TH, I don't think it can all be blamed on him and at the end of the day she was the one who battered Arthur to the point where he had irreversible brain damage.

I have to agree with them all being scumbags.

I have to say my dealings with Solihull Social Services did not give me a great opinion of them. Different case as involved an elderly person with dementia but their idea of safeguarding wasn't what most of us would expect.

Uncomfortable as it may be for the middle class, neither of Arthur's birth parents came from the "lower classes".

As previously stated, mum went to a private school & was studying at uni. Dad is a child of a school teacher in Solihull & lived with Arthur in his parents' annexe before meeting Emma Tustin. Solihull is a v expensive area for those who do not know it.

I don't know ET's history but the two people who were obliged to protect this poor little soul - his parents - certainly did not come from deprivation.

Not sure an abortion at 21 weeks is particularly kind for the foetus. horrific at that gestation. Babies born not much later survive.

I said it was possibly the kindest thing she has ever done for any child- when you understand what she has done to all the children she has had or lived with- you will get it.

I very much doubt she embarked on termination as an act of kindness. More like one of anger and frustration, a baby would have been taken away and no doubt adopted with no reference to her and she couldn't have that.
She is a dreadful person and he's likewise, a man who failed to protect his child.

I very much doubt she embarked on termination as an act of kindness.

Me too. Nonetheless it was the best outcome for the potential child.

I seem to have been misunderstood. I wasn’t for one second suggesting she terminated out of kindness, I was saying that when you look at how she treats all the children she has had or lived with- then terminating the pregnancy was probably the kindest thing she had ever done to a child by comparison.

Regardless of her intent in doing so.

Maternal Grandmother and family was denied contact and cut off. Paternal Grandmother reported concerns fo SS. ET's step father also referred to SS anonymously. Paternal uncle was warned not to check on Arthur or he would be breaching covid rules. So it's not a problem of generations or even a family problem, it is a problem with that sick man and horrible woman. Yes of course their families aren't perfect, they will try to see their family in the best light. Even so they reported concerns. The story with his mum worries me that she was in abusive relationship with Hughes and the man she stabbed. I think it was just a big mess and it went really wrong one night, but that it could have equally gone the other way and Arthur could have lost his mum that night through her dying at the hands of the boyfriend and not the other way around. So often the rhetoric of "they were as bad as each other" when actually the man is twice as strong as the woman even if not twice their size. Nobody can say for sure, I know, but I do think she really lovely Arthur and things could have been different. That's not because she's a bit posh (although her statement to the court was beautiful, eloquent and moving of course) but that things did not go wrong for Arthur until she wasn't in his life anymore. I think she was a protective factor for a while At least. And then his paternal relatives were (but not his dad).