Kris Hollington - Hurting too much : shocking stories from the frontline of child protection

HURTING TOO MUCH

Other Books by Harry Keeble with Kris Hollington

Crack House

A true life account of an honest cops successful effort to stamp out crack houses on his turf, this is a fact-filled, very readable and at times disturbing book. Raid it and weep... truly shocking. Much like its subject matter, this is gripping stuff

5 stars, Maxim

In his blistering book, Crack House, hard-nosed cop Harry Keeble tells how, for nine bone-crunching months, he and his men rampaged through Londons seething drugs underworld

5 stars, News of the World

Baby X

Powerful and moving. I didnt think I could be shocked any more until I read Baby X

Cathy Glass

The subject matter is obviously heavy... But the pace crackles from case to case with Harrys fight to save neglected and abused kids taking him around the world

5 stars, News of the World

Terror Cops

This is the first time a counter terrorism officer involved has written the inside story of Operation Overt. And its a truly fascinating insight into the lives of terror cops, and the painstaking evidence-gathering that went into this large scale operation. A terror-ific read

5 stars, News of the World

First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2012
A CBS COMPANY

Copyright 2012 Harry Keeble and Kris Hollington

This book is copyright under the Berne convention.
No reproduction without permission.
All rights reserved.

The right of Harry Keeble and Kris Hollington to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
1st Floor
222 Grays Inn Road
London WC1X 8HB

www.simonandschuster.co.uk

Simon & Schuster Australia, Sydney
Simon & Schuster India, New Delhi

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-0-85720-848-4
eBook ISBN: 978-0-85720-849-1

Typeset by M Rules
Printed in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd,
Croydon CR0 4YY

Detective Sergeant Harry Keeble has almost twenty years experience in inner-city proactive policing. He joined the Met after leaving university in 1989. In 1999, Harry joined Haringey drugs squad as a uniformed sergeant and spent the following twelve months planning and leading a hundred raids on fortified crack houses.

Appalled at the number of abused children he encountered, and in particular by the senseless death of Victoria Climbi, Harry joined Hackneys Child Protection Team. He spent the following five years bringing dozens of child abusers to justice, managing several international police investigations related to child abuse across Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. He has prosecuted major drug dealers, rapists and child abusers at the Old Bailey and currently works for Specialist Operations at New Scotland Yard.

Kris Hollington is a freelance journalist, playwright, author and ghost-writer of fourteen books, including the Sunday Times bestsellers Baby X and Little Victim, written with Detective Sergeant Harry Keeble. Kriss articles and books have featured on television and radio (including Channel 4s Cutting Edge, ITV1s Real Crime, BBC Radio 4s Saturday Play and BBC Drama). He lives in East London.

AUTHORS NOTE

It is important to ensure that the details of some of the individuals encountered through my work (witnesses, police officers, social workers, teachers, etc.) are not described in a way that would enable people to recognise them. And of course it is also necessary to protect the identities of children and parents whose stories are detailed in this book. The authors have, with the exception of names that are in the public domain, protected the identities of some people by changing names and altering some background details. Those cases that are a matter of public record are reported in their original detail.

CHAPTER ONE

WEST IS EAST

A sixteen-year-old girl had barricaded herself inside her room.

Shes hysterical, the manager of the childrens home said to me over the phone. Police assistance is most definitely required.

I looked across the office. Rob, our rotund and benevolent boss, was discussing a new child protection policy with the rest of the team. I sighed. Id have to be briefed later. At least the childrens home was nearby and it would probably only take a few minutes to sort out. Kids usually end their protest soon after the police turn up, considering our arrival to be a victory of sorts. Besides, although it hadnt been my case, Id briefly met this extremely polite and quiet girl once before, and I was surprised to learn that she was responsible for a disturbance like this.

Ill be right over.

I emerged from Stoke Newington Police Station into the hot summers morning, climbed in my grey unmarked police Fiesta and drove for ten minutes to the address. The house was like many in Hackney, a tall Victorian brick building that had long lost its splendour.

It was sandwiched between two B&Bs on a wide and busy road. These were the sort that would never make it on to a British Tourist Board website. Most of Hackneys B&Bs were populated by homeless families and people claiming asylum. Any tourist here was lost and in need of directions.

I shook the managers hand. He was in his forties, slightly overweight and wore the stressed expression of a man whose nerves had been wound taut by his troubled residents.

Is it just you? he asked with concern, peering over my shoulder.

I smiled. Well, yes, we dont usually send the riot squad for a child barricaded in her bedroom, even in Hackney.

Thats not what I meant. He was clearly not amused. Shes on the second floor, he said, already breathing heavily as we climbed the first set of stairs. You know her dont you?

Nadeema? Oh yes. Her parents tried to force her into marrying her much older cousin.

The man paused on the second-floor landing, panting. Once hed caught his breath he said, And needless to say, she disagreed with their choice.

The white door was made of solid wood, not one that would be easy to kick down. I knocked.

Nadeema? Its Detective Sergeant Harry Keeble, from Hackneys Child Protection Unit. We met once before. Is everything OK in there?

Silence. I pressed my ear up against the door. I thought I could hear sobbing.

Whats she got in there? I asked the manager.

He shrugged.

Nadeema, I need you to speak to me

A sharp, angry voice cut through the door. Theres nothing you can do, nothing! Go away!

What happened?

I want to die! I want to die!

*

Earlier that morning all our phones were off the hook, except for the one belonging to our short but indomitable office manager, Clara. Forty-something Clara was the units unofficial aunt; she knew exactly when to be stern or sympathetic and somehow, by using methods that bordered on genius, she kept our overstretched office in order.

Clara always held the fort during our weekly semi-formal office meeting, which was led by the walking encyclopedia that was Rob, our avuncular and overweight Detective Inspector, aka the Fat Controller. During this meeting all fifteen members of Hackneys Child Protection Unit were able to sound off about anything job related, whether we simply wanted to share information, or rant about the injustice of a particular case, or complain about the uselessness of a certain policy. You could almost hear the hiss as our frustrations were gradually released under Robs expert guidance. Once that was done, it was time to digest our latest performance figures while munching Robs biscuits and slurping cups of tea.