Infant death.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....-just-half-years.html

Yet another sad case, but the question that must be asked is:

Why were 2 sixteen year olds were allowed to keep their child, surely there should be a minimum age that persons can be allowed to take charge of a child.

Would anyone even allow them to babysit for them for a few hours, never mind take full responsibility?

[daffy654]

Why should 16 year olds be any worse at looking after their own legally concieved child that older parents would?
The father in this case was obviously incapable but that does not mean all young parents are.

[LeMarchand]

As the age of consent is 16 then that would have to be raised as well...

[jake-the-peg]

Why have you not played the race card?

Oh sorry they seem to be British - surely some anomaly

[naomi24]

How can you possibly tar all 16 year olds with the same brush, AOG? I agree it's a terribly sad case, but there are plenty of people out there of all ages who shouldn't be left in charge of their own children, so it's a non-argument.

[Sqad]

It is a "non argument" for the fact that it is "not news" as this situation is repeated time and time again in the UK.

How can the Government stop a 16 year old "borderline disability" youth from having intercourse with a 16year old teenaged girl, with the resulting pregnancy and a premature baby?

This is UK today and one must learn to accept this.

[karenmac60]

This seems to be happening more and more often - regardless of the age of the parents, and each time it is the father/mother's partner to blame. In previous generations fathers were not so hands on and spent very little time with new babies as they were working to support the family. Is it not time we realised that a lot of men are just not capable of dealing with a young baby without resorting to the same sort of violence they would use to sort out an argument in the pub? Maybe if these men had jobs and some sort of purpose in life they may be less inclined to lash out and at the very least it would keep them away from their children more.

[Sqad]

karen...good point.

[anotheoldgit]

naomi24
/// but there are plenty of people out there of all ages who shouldn't be left in charge of their own children, so it's a non-argument.///

One can always use this excuse, "there are plenty of people who should not be in charge of children"

Just as you could say to a person with only one leg "it could be worse you could have no legs"

No the fact of this particular case, was the fact that two16 year olds, were allowed to take charge of their own infant, which resulted in the infants death.

Surely the fact that they were so young and the father said to be mentally backward, should have set off alarm bells.

All this talk about "all sixteen year olds are not the same" and jake asks me why I haven't played the race card, I despair at the mentality of some of you "plus sixteen year olds".

[Sqad]

////Surely the fact that they were so young and the father said to be mentally backward, should have set off alarm bells. ////

What alarm bells?
Just walk down any shopping precinct in UK at 9.a.m and "alarm bells" are going off all the time and nobody takes any notice any more.

Same with teenaged pregnancies.....alarm bells?...ignored...because it is now the norm.

[sophie_1003]

This story has virtually nothing to do with the fact that it is '2 sixteen year olds' it is about the father, the mother did nothing wrong

[anotheoldgit]

karenmac60

What a sexiest post, blaming the Men, I know in this case it was the Man that was to blame, but that doesn't let the majority of Women off the hook in these types of cases.

Women that cannot keep their knickers up, have multiple kids by a number of dads. Then when they are left on their own with the results of their sexual encounters, would rather spread out on the sofa watching TV or reading gossip magazines, than knowing what their offspring's are getting up to.

There that's stereotyping and sexiest, not nice is it?

[anotheoldgit]

Sqad

When I referred to alarm bells, I did not mean the type in shopping precincts, strewth.

Have you not heard of social services, they should have been alerted in cases such as these.

[Sqad]

AOG...I know.....I used it as a simile...........strewth.

[anotheoldgit]

sophie_1003

/// it is about the father, the mother did nothing wrong ///

Woe betide we should criticise the mother.

/// Miss Smith stayed with her on the first night before leaving Bacon to care for their daughter alone for another two days.///

Left her ill, premature baby alone with a mentally backward sixteen year old for two days.

Doesn't sound to me of a caring mother or NHS staff for that matter.

[karenmac60]

How is it being sexist? I have the utmost respect and fondness for most men - but I am unaware of any cases where babies have been beaten or shaken to death by the mother. I will openly admit that the mother has often stood by and let it happen out of fear for herself. I am not in any way insinuating that all men are bad or are child killers, what I am saying is that there seems to be a certain type of man in society today who cannot cope with infants, they do not seem to realise that they are not adult men in the pub. The case of the man who broke a baby's arm because it accidentally scratched him springs to mind, or men who will punch babies full in the face because they are drowning out the tv with their crying. What I am saying is that maybe these men always existed but because society has changed they are now spending more and more time with babies and they are not emotionally equipped to deal with them.

[TROUTEATER]

Karen the Mail says there are dozens

http://www.dailymail....ozens-women-jail.html

[TROUTEATER]

http://news.bbc.co.uk...nd/london/7950602.stm

[karenmac60]

Trouteater - did you actually read the story? While dozens have been convicted the evidence may have been wrong. I was actually talking about cases where the childs autopsy reveals 'injuries consistent with a car crash or long fall onto a hard surface'. A quote I have heard time and time again of late.

[TROUTEATER]

unaware of any cases where babies have been beaten or shaken to death by the mother

What about the BBC News one ,

[karenmac60]

Again, I said by the mother - not the childminder.