The Life and Times of Me

1993

I am just about to turn 35, in 1993 I was about to turn 10. I was living in Walton, Liverpool, where I had been born and brought up. Something happened at a local shopping centre, I little boy was coerced away from his mum (although questions abound about what she was doing at the time). Shockingly the people who were doing the coercing were also two little boys although much older (10 years old). What happened next was horrible, the little boy was "murdered" by the two older boys. These are the facts.

As the British society I feel we have failed all three of these children. The littlest one's failure is fairly obvious, he lost his life that day. How we failed the other two is less obvious, but I feel a catalogue of missed opportunities meant they had home environments which were not conducive of a safe, moral up bringing. Where were social services, health visitors, doctors, teachers? Why were missed school days gone unnoticed? Why were signs of neglect not followed up on? Theses 10 year olds seemed to have been caring for younger siblings, no 10 year old should have that burden.

What happened next I feel (and I myself was only 10 at the time and remember it all. Along with going to place flowers at Anfield after the Hillsborough disaster it is frozen into my mind as a time of great distress). Is the greatest injustice in British legal history. Why did the two boys loose their legal anonymity? Why was the criminal age of responsibility changed? In the UK, we are not responsible enough to vote till 18, we can't smoke or play the lottery. We can't have sex till we are 16, we can get married at 16 if we have our parents permission. So, what made it right to try these 10/11 year olds as adults?

I'm afraid I have no answers. Rehabilitation doesn't seem to be working before one of these boys. Maybe allowing them to have a "proper childhood" would have been more effective.

posted by Amy @ 15:14