Family Composition

Jackson Richards- son aged 2

Stacey Richards- daughter aged 13

Cathy Richards- Mother, aged 30

Simon Bartlett- Father, aged 40

Maternal Grandmother- Julie Richards- 48 years old (lives in Dublin)

Maternal Grandfather- not known

Simon Bartlett's parents- June (deceased 2013- long-term prescription medication misuse) and Trevor Bartlett aged 76 (lives alone, known to adult mental health services. Long-term issues with alcoholism and gambling).

Wider family historical information

Social services (SS) provided family support to Julie on and off throughout Cathy's childhood as Julie found Cathy "difficult".

Social services records suggest poor parental boundaries.

Julie described Cathy as being "a mistake" rather than a planned pregnancy.

SS involvement escalated to child protection in Cathy's teens due to truanting, substance misuse (alcohol and cannabis) and involvement with groups of much older men and women in the area.

She was placed on the CPR on the grounds of 'suspected neglect' due to being out of parental control and often going 'missing' overnight or for days at a time.

She was expelled at age 16 for smoking and dealing cannabis at school but it was widely suspected she was 'running' for Simon or Trevor.

She made allegations that on one occasion, Trevor Bartlett asked her to have sex with him when he was drunk (she was 15, he was 61) but this allegation was later retracted by Cathy- no formal complaint was made and she never spoke of this again.

Cathy was not in education, training or work after being expelled.

Simon worked as a painter for his dad and would often be seen with Cathy in his car. It was thought that Cathy was in a sexual relationship with Simon, although this was all speculative until Cathy's pregnancy with Stacey at age 16. Julie was furious about the pregnancy but supported Cathy throughout.

Simon lived with his parents up until Cathy's pregnancy. He secured his own accommodation and Cathy effectively moved in with him by staying there most nights.

Simon made no attempt to plan for the baby's arrival e.g., he slept on a mattress on the floor which Cathy found impossible to sleep on during the pregnancy and he refused to "waste money" on baby items or baby proof the house.

The pregnancy was difficult and Cathy was often in bed debilitated by sickness.

During the pregnancy, Simon started to become abusive, calling her "fat", "lazy" and "ugly". A couple of times he pushed Cathy and slapped her but always apologised.

Cathy's mother moved to Dublin and made it clear that she was too young to be tied down being a "Granny".

The more prepared for the baby Cathy became, the less so Simon was. For example, she sourced bundles of baby clothes and furniture from free Facebook groups, attended all her ante-natal appointments whilst Simon invited his mates around on a regular basis to drink and smoke marijuana or go clubbing. There were many nights people would be coming and going wrecking her limited sleep.

Cathy had a good relationship with her social worker and was adamant she would do everything they asked for the baby's sake. They were evicted after 6 months due to noise complaints, parties and having dogs in the property (removed by RSPCA).

Simon and Cathy 'sofa surfed' with baby Stacey (aged 12 months) and eventually secured private accommodation. What followed was an on/off relationship, with Cathy returning to her mother's on a regular basis when things got worse with Simon

. Social services were involved for a short time with baby Stacey however Cathy did everything that was asked and their involvement was only ever 'family support'.

Simon moved a lot- sometimes with Cathy and Stacey but mostly on his own- eventually moving back in with his father after his mother's death.

Trevor drank heavily and on most evenings Simon and Trevor would drink and smoke marijuana at home. Neither of them cleaned the house and it was in a filthy state. Cathy refused to ever 'set foot' in the house and despised Trevor. It was the source of many arguments between Cathy and Simon as she refused to let Stacey anywhere near Trevor but wouldn't say why.

Cathy and Simon had little to do with each other between 2014 and 2019 and Simon showed little interest in Stacey.

In 2014 Simon fell off a ladder, injured his back and was no longer able to work as a painter. His father's finances were in turmoil- Simon learned that his father had gambled his life savings and was getting threats due to gambling debts. All of this, as well as the physical pain Simon was experiencing, led to an increase in his cannabis, alcohol and prescription medication (pain relief) misuse. Simon put on a lot of weight due to no exercise and an unhealthy diet.

Meanwhile, during 2014 and 2019 Cathy secured private rental accommodation and worked in a private nursing home as a care assistant, which she loved, although she had a zero hours' contract. Stacey did well in Nursery and proceeded to do well in primary school. Cathy visited her mum occasionally in Dublin and their relationship seemed to improve. Julie was affectionate and warm towards Stacey.

In January 2019, Simon pleaded with Cathy to let him live with her and make a 'fresh start' as a family. By then he was experiencing chronic pain and was diagnosed with diabetes, which he was not looking after. His father was becoming difficult to live with and there were occasional physical altercations between them which led to PSNI visits.

Cathy relented as she felt sorry for Simon and he moved in.

Soon after she became pregnant with Jackson.

Initially, Simon was very helpful and supported Cathy and Stacey however this soon deteriorated. As before, as the pregnancy progressed he too progressively got more violent and abusive and did nothing during the day apart from watch TV, drink, gamble online and shout at Stacey to not be such a "noisy bitch".

Cathy had to borrow money from loan sharks on occasion to pay for essentials.

In December 2019 when she was 8 months pregnant, Cathy had Simon removed from the house with support from the PSNI, social services and Women's Aid.

Simon was remorseful, pleaded with Cathy that he would change and promised to attend anger management classes and give up the drink.

He bought her an engagement ring and proceeded to attend counselling. He blamed his temper on his back pain. In March 2020 the pandemic hit and Cathy was offered overtime at her work. Jackson was only 8 weeks old and she was in a difficult position as she had no childcare for both children. Simon offered to help and moved back in.

Current referral and focus for the Coursework Assessment

This week (October 2022) a telephone referral was received from Stacey's school reporting the following concerns. Stacey is now in year 10.

"Stacey has been not herself since returning to school in September. She is often smelly, like she's not showered or had her clothes washed and often appears hungry. Her mum has been working a lot more recently as there are significant staff shortages at work. Sometimes she works night shifts and it's up to her father to get their food organised. Apparently the landlord has said he's either going to have to put the house on the market or put the rent up 100 a month because his mortgage rates have gone up so her mum has to take all the work she can get as the Housing Benefit won't cover it all. Their other bills have gone up too.

Stacey describes her father as "disabled" as he has diabetes and a physical injury from a fall. We have not met her father and only have Cathy's details as a contact. She said that he doesn't help with bills and never seems to have money. She said she likes her dad sometimes when he's not drinking or 'sad'- when he's sad he stays in bed and Stacey tends to her brother.

Stacey disclosed to her PE teacher yesterday that she was sometimes afraid of her dad as he would often shout at her and her little brother and has sometimes thrown items at her brother (an empty can of lager on one occasion and a remote control which hit him on the forehead). Her father has told the children to never tell their mother or she would kick him out again and if she did that, he'd kill himself as life wouldn't be worth living and it would all be Stacey's fault.

Stacey also said that sometimes they go to her Grandfather's house even though she knows her mum doesn't like her Grandfather and never goes there but her dad says not to tell. Stacey hates going there because her Grandfather 'tickles' her in a way she doesn't like and asks her questions about whether she's had her period yet, kissed a boy and things like that. She said that he showed her a picture of a Victoria's Secret model and asked her if she would like that sort of bra and panties for a present. Because he laughs when he says it, Stacey says she doesn't know if he's just "mucking around", but she does state that she doesn't like these comments or the way he tickles her. We have not asked her anything about this so as to not contaminate any future questioning about this, but we are very concerned for both children's wellbeing".

The SPOE (Single Point of Entry) social worker asked additional questions of the school and the following information was offered-

• Stacey describes Jackson as very quiet and has little speech. He is not toilet trained and often has night 'terrors'. He sleeps in her bed.
• During the day there are people "coming and going" into her Grandfather's house. She doesn't like going there.