I Can't Believe Ellie's Grandmother Has Walked Free From Court!

[suzeanna]

There was quite a long discussion about pitbulls and Ellie's grandmother walking free....I'm totally horrified that she was allowed to! Ellie's dad is saying they are distraught, and the grandmother is solely to blame for Ellie's death...oh really? the woman was a known drug user and alcoholic....did they really think she was a responsible sort that they could leave their daughter with? if there hadn't been a dog involved, she could just as easily have fallen asleep with a cigarette burning and burned the house down or something.

 

Of course, you had the requisite phone calls from people who have been bitten, one woman saying it should be one bite and that's it, dog is put down. What made me laugh, she is a social worker....maybe it should be one mistake by social workers and they are sacked? "counting on my fingers all the children who have been in the news having died at their carers hands, after a social worker said they were fine". Do move this to contro if you think it warrants it, mods.

[scotslass]

I agree, suzeanna. Ellie was let down (as was the dog) by the whole family. As was pointed out in the BSL section, this ain't some sweet ol' granny we're talking about, who just had a glass of wine and nodded off in her rocking chair. In my view, the parents are equally culpable; it's up to them to make secure arrangements for their children. Knowing what they did of the grandmother's habits, they clearly did not provide a safe haven for their child.

 

Another lesson from the UK justice system about the perceived value of a child's life.

 

By the way, I don't necessarily think that bunging the granny in prison - with free and ready access to drugs - is the solution. That's another issue, and one which needs to be addressed. I'd prefer to see some kind of attempt at making her face up to the reality of what has happened and somehow work towards change. We may imagine that there's no worse punishment than the agony of losing a grandchild; not everyone's mind works like that. Too many people are happy to blame the drugs, the booze, the deprivation, etc.

 

Poor wee girl.

[celeste]

It does make you wonder what sort of person can think that woman was innocent, what ever excuse you can come up with to justify her actions the fact remains that if she hadn't let Reuben in, that child would still be here, however, I do think that the parents are also responsible, it was their choice to leave Elle with a known drug user, and not just dope, the only innocents in this whole sorry affair are Ellie and Reuben, both were let down by people who should have loved and protected them, both have paid the ultimate price.

[ReikiAnge]

There's another thread in the BSL bit http://www.rykat.org/forums/index.php?s=&a...st&p=542239 just in case you thought you were the only ones amazed by the verdict.

[Kats inc]

There was quite a long discussion about pitbulls and Ellie's grandmother walking free....I'm totally horrified that she was allowed to! Ellie's dad is saying they are distraught, and the grandmother is solely to blame for Ellie's death...oh really? the woman was a known drug user and alcoholic....did they really think she was a responsible sort that they could leave their daughter with? if there hadn't been a dog involved, she could just as easily have fallen asleep with a cigarette burning and burned the house down or something.

 

Of course, you had the requisite phone calls from people who have been bitten, one woman saying it should be one bite and that's it, dog is put down. What made me laugh, she is a social worker....maybe it should be one mistake by social workers and they are sacked? "counting on my fingers all the children who have been in the news having died at their carers hands, after a social worker said they were fine". Do move this to contro if you think it warrants it, mods.

 

Wrong outcome completely

 

But I've got to reply to your comment about social workers.I could name you many many children whose lives have improved immensly thanks to the hard work and dedication of many of the social workers I've worked with over the years.I think your generalised comment is really unfair.

[KathyM]

Last night on the news, they introduced the story, then started the report with:

 

"The dog responsible for this...."

 

I got up and shouted. The bloomin' dog was not responsible for anything, that bloomin' woman, Kiel and Ellie's parents were. And they failed her. Effectively they killed her. I thought the whole concept of "manslaughter" was when someone's actions lead to a death - not murder, but not acceptable either. That's exactly what happened. So how come she got away with it?