Suppose this type of behaviour will get the thumbs up from some of the members? Sickening if you ask me Skynews: Social workers missed boy's plight <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> At first glance it looked like any normal little boy's bedroom. A big brown teddy bear sat on the floor and several discarded sweet wrappers lay nearby. But as police officers carried on examining the scene, the true horror of what had taken place in the room became apparent. Scattered on the carpet and bed were burnt pieces of tin foil - tell tale signs that the 11-year-old old had been using heroin. And, most shockingly of all, it was his own mother who had been supplying him. http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1438579.jpg Yet, social workers decided not to take action in the case - despite the youngster's plight being raised with them and, in one instance, a file being opened on the boy's care. The house the boy shared with Emma Kelly, 31, in Heathfield, <?:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />East Sussex, was littered with items associated with drug use when it was raided by police in January 2005. 'Pure wickedness' She was jailed for nine years on Thursday at Hove Crown Court for supplying Class A drugs to her son between August 2002 and MaonName>y 2005 - from the age of nine, until he was 11. Kelly also admitted two counts of child cruelty against the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons. But although his school and grandfather had raised concerns with East Sussex Social Services, nothing was done until the beginning of 2005 when the boy and his mother were arrested on suspicion of shoplifting. It was only then that his mother's behaviour was revealed when police raided the leafy terraced house. But even after the youngster had been put in foster care, Kelly continued to supply her son with heroin - outside his school in MaonName>y 2005. In court, Judge Anthony Niblett described the act as "pure wickedness". He also criticised East Sussex County Council for its failings in the case. Kelly had begun her downward spiral of drug addiction after she lost her partner in a car crash and shortly afterwards her baby daughter died. The house was well-known in the area for frequent visits by other drug dealers, but the boy's grandfather, Terry Kelly, said social services had failed to react to his concerns. Dishevelled state "After I'd contacted a very senior person at social services with a letter of complaint, all that happened was that I was blanked by the person I knew at social services for dropping her [his daughter, Emma Kelly] in it," Mr Kelly said. "It's disgusting, and I hope that it doesn't happen to anyone else," he said outside the court on Thursday. East Sussex Social Services opened a file on the family in MaonName>rch 2003, but closed it six months later. They became involved again in November 2004 after relatives told them drug dealers had been using the house. An education welfare officer also raised concerns that the boy had only been to school for some nine days since September. In December 2004, the boy was found in a distressed state, and when social workers tried to visit the house later that month, they were turned away by his mother. Judge Niblett questioned why social services made no intervention to protect the boy's welfare despite receiving repeated signals that he was being exposed to drug abuse. He said: "The facts of this case speak for themselves. Despite an increasing number of warning signs, no direct action or intervention was taken in relation to X [the boy] until police intervened at the end of January 2005." "This was despite a social services case conference about the boy being held in 2004," he said. The social worker connected to the case was changed "and the situation was allowed to continue", the judge said. "I express the hope that the social services department will conduct an urgent and thorough review of this case," he added. Speaking after Kelly was sentenced, MaonName>tt Dunkley of East Sussex County Council, said: "We didn't have sufficient evidence until the point that we did take him into care to enable us to do so." Social services has said it will provide a report to the judge within 14 days. Kelly's son, who is now aged 12, is in foster care and is said to be thriving and back at school
