Mum of suicide teen was told children’s home was ‘safest place for her to be’
Father accuses social workers of going through the motions
A MUM yesterday told how her tormented daughter took her own life at a children’s home after she was moved there for her own safety.
Kirsty McGregor, 13, died three months after being taken into care at the Dunclutha Children’s Home in Dunoon, Argyll, in 2016.
We told at the time how the troubled youngster, from Lochgilphead, was found injured at the facility and taken to Cowal Community Hospital on December 30, but nothing could be done to save her.
She had shared a series of posts on her Facebook page about loneliness, self-harm and suicide, including one asking: “Would anyone miss me?”
Her parents David and Judith told a fatal accident inquiry yesterday that they had been left unable to cope with her behaviour, which involved visiting sites about suicide.
They criticised the care from Arygll and Bute Council’s social work department and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) – saying an “attachment disorder” which had turned their daughter into a “compulsive liar” was not given due attention.
Judith described how she and her husband agreed for Kirsty to be taken into the care of Dunclutha on the advice of social work after reaching “breaking point”.
Giving evidence to Dunoon Sheriff Court via video link, she said: “At the time we were advised there wasn’t any respite available in Arygll and Bute. They did talk about foster homes. I didn’t like the idea of foster homes because I felt insulted that they thought a foster home could do a better job than we were doing.
“Our concern at the time which had been completely forgotten about was that Kirsty was self-harming and looking at suicide sites.
“I wasn’t sleeping at night because I was worried about her moving around in her bedroom knowing she was looking at suicide sites.
“It was 24-hour care that I couldn’t provide. So it was put to us that Dunclutha would be the best option because she would get 24-hour care from trained professionals and it would be the safest place for her to be.
“Because she was suicidal and her self-harming was getting worse we thought the best thing to do was to take the advice about putting her into care.” A lawyer for Argyll and Bute Council’s social work department, Gavin Anderson, told the court that Judith contacted social workers at the end of September 2016 and said her daughter could not come back to the family home from school that day.
Social work became involved with the family in January 2016 after concerns over the girl’s behaviour and police were called to the family home in the months before her death when she became aggressive towards her family.
Her father told the inquiry that a lack of understanding about Kirsty’s attachment disorder, which prevents a child from forming a bond with a parent or carer, should be examined by the sheriff.
He said: “We told the social work and CAMHS that Kirsty was lying. She came home after talking to CAMHS and said she just told them what they wanted to hear.”
The dad said social workers were “going through the motions”.
Mark Fitzpatrick, representing CAMHS, read an affidavit from a doctor who assessed Kirsty.
It said: “There was no mental illness apparent at the time, we felt the difficulties were down to insecure attachment and possible ADHD.”
The inquiry, before Sheriff Thomas Ward, continues.
It was 24-hour care that I couldn’t provide JUDITH McGREGOR ON LIVING WITH KIRSTY