Help at hand for young victims of abuse

Oct 26 2007 by Samantha Parker, Ches Chron Country

Sally, not her real name, like all 10-year-olds loves her grandad but she doesn’t like the way he touches her. With the help of the NSPCC Sally had the courage to get her grandad punished for the bad things he did to her. SAMANTHA PARKER looks at the NSPCC’s role with child witnesses.

Sitting huddled together, both very upset and very scared are a mother and daughter.

They are afraid no one will believe them when they give evidence, frightened and tentative that he will get off.

‘He’ is Sally’s grandad and her mum’s dad. Sally wants him to stop touching her. He has been doing it since she was six and she doesn’t like it.

The pair are joined by NSPCC counsellor for Chester and Cheshire Val Quigley.

She said: ‘Working with Sally, her main concern was that people wouldn’t believe her. She wanted her grandad punished but she loved him.

‘She said she felt confused about him going to prison, she had an attachment to him.

‘We arranged for her to look around court with her mum so that she knew who sat where and who did what.

‘When the case went to trial an NSPCC worker was with them for the whole three days.

‘She needed a lot of support as emotions were running high. There was a possibility that her mum could have been abused by him too.’

Sally’s grandad was found guilty. The NSPCC’s work doesn’t end there.

Val added: ‘We went round to see Sally and her mum after the trial to see if they needed any more support.

‘Sally was finding it hard to tell people what happened, she was very hurt by the defence barrister as she felt he called her a liar during cross examination.

‘She felt relieved that her grandad wouldn’t touch her anymore but felt responsible for sending him to prison.

‘We helped Sally with therapeutic work.’

Val who works for witness support says they deal with 250 families a year offering support and trying to ease the anxiety surrounding court.

She said: ‘Nine times out of 10 the children come to us from the police when they identify a child involved in anything from petty theft to heavier cases.

‘When a child is referred to us a practitioner is delegated who will stay with the family throughout the trial. They then make contact with the family to explain what we do. The family have a choice as to whether they want to take up the service.’

From there the practitioner goes through four steps with the family.

The first step is to offer the family a home visit explaining what will happen and what support they can expect from the NSPCC.

The second is to take the family down to the court and show the back entrance where they will be able to avoid running into the defendant.

The support worker explains who does what and where everyone sits. They also get to meet the usher who will be looking after them during the trial and are shown the secure witness room.

Thirdly is the support offered to the family during the trial. Their NSPCC worker sits with them throughout, offering support but remaining impartial. Their job is not to give advice on statements made to the court or via video link.

After the trial is over the family have a visit to see how the family are dong and feeling after the sentence, especially if there is a ‘not guilty’ verdict. They can be offered post trial therapy if needed.

This case study is based on an actual trial but in order to protect the anonymity of the child the name and some details have been changed.