I would like to update you on the real life case of the 86 year old grandmother whose daughter one day removed her grandchildren from her life.
Let me be VERY clear, this was not because of a safeguarding issue. It is absolutely right that a child's safety is always paramount, but like many grandparents, these children are used as weapons in disagreements between family members who decide to remove safe and established contact.
This loss is referred to as a living bereavement for grandparents and equally the children, who may be thinking, does grandma still love me? why has she gone? what did I do?
So, this grandma desperately missing her grandchildren is faced with her daughter refusing to mediate to resolve matters, sends loving letters and goes to the school to peer through the railings in the hope of seeing her grandchildren. This leads to the police giving her warnings as her daughter states this is unwanted contact.
She was then asked to attend a police station, interviewed and sat at home waiting for an outcome and being told that the case is being considered by the CPS. Today, she has been told that she is to be cautioned, I ask what her crime is? What is she guilty of? After all, a caution is an admission of guilt. Is it really in the public interest to take such a case to Court? What about the children? What is happening to them in this space when a parent makes a permanent decision about their life based on how they feel at that particular moment? How is a child left feeling and how might they feel in the future?
There is something fundamentally wrong when we are cautioning people for wanting to continue having safe and loving contact with their grandchildren. This behaviour is not in the interest of the child and this petition is about the child whose welfare is paramount.