MISERABLE, and miles from home, Salma ElSharkawy reached for a packet of
painkillers and made a half-hearted attempt at an overdose.
By all accounts the frightened 12-year-old didn’t take many tablets but there
was enough of a scare for her to spend a night in hospital.
When she was returned to her care home in Derbyshire, she put her head on her
pillow, looked up at the ceiling and wished she was back in London and with her
friends in Gospel Oak.
A month later, she was killed in a car crash, unaware at the time that she was
potentially on the brink of getting her wish and being reunited with her father
for the first time in two years.
Investigating social workers were paving the way for her return to Camden and,
privately at least, were willing to concede she would be better off with her
father.
While the contents of Salma’s secret diary were still being kept under lock and
key by the authorities this week, a New Journal special investigation has
retraced the final weeks of her life in and around the sleepy town of Buxton in
the Peak District.
Visiting the places she stayed and talking to the people she met, reporters have
found:
• External social workers were becoming more and more convinced that Salma
should return to live with her father.
• Salma tried to stab herself after learning she was going to be taken 200 miles
from her family and friends in Camden to the ‘Adventure Care’ unit near Buxton.
• She complained of loneliness and being kept away from other children while at
the care home.
• Salma struggled to sleep in the care home, often choosing to stay on the floor
rather than her bed. In the last four months of
Salma’s life, she lived in a converted stables cottage run by Adventure Care
Limited in the mining village Stoney Middleton, close to Buxton.
She was educated alone with no contact with children her own age, a world away
from her inner-city upbringing in Gospel Oak.
Salma, a pupil at Haverstock School in Chalk Farm, sought sanctuary among her
favourite horses and buried her troubles in art therapy classes but those who
knew her best suggest what she really wanted was some friends of her own age.
The New Journal has found mounting evidence that Salma was desperately unhappy
in the custody of Adventure Care, once running away but returning on her own,
another time refusing to enter the building until after midnight. When asked
about her stay, Camden Council, who paid thousands of pounds a week to place her
there rather than choosing a foster home closer to Camden, said her care was
still under investigation.
Regardless of their unenlightening press statements, it is now becoming
increasingly clear that Salma was largely having a wretched time.
On one occasion she smashed a window to enable her to speak to a passing child.
Her father Walid ElSharkawy said she was told not to speak to them, adding: “She
was living with adults, she was socially deprived.”
Salma often complained of headaches. Medics put this down to stress. In all, she
is thought to have been taken to hospital four times, three times with headaches
and a fourth after downing a handful of pills.
Her father said her court-appointed guardian believed this was Salma’s way of
getting to know the area so she could run away again.
Friends said she had never wanted to go to Derbyshire in the first place and was
tricked into coming out of hiding after running away from a foster placement in
Camden.
She was forced into a car, tears rolling down her cheeks and driven straight up
the motorway. The breathtaking views across the Peak District that rolled past
the windows will have hardly registered with her.
Some sources have suggested that when she was first told that she would be sent
to live in the countryside she tried to stab herself, one incident in several
where she drew attention to her depression through self-harm.
The New Journal has revealed previously how she tried to jump from a balcony.
Friends and family say Salma’s last few weeks in Buxton were a mix of
loneliness, despair and a desire to return home.
What is for sure, and it is unlikely that Salma would have had an inkling of it,
was that after two years away from her parents, social workers were making a
stronger and stronger case for her return to Camden.
An independent social worker went as far as recommending Mr ElShark-awy be given
a full parental assessment, increasing the chances of her being placed with him.
It wasn’t until two weeks after Salma’s death that Mr ElSharkawy received the
final report.
It said: “Mr ElSharkawy presented as a loving father who was devoted to his
daughter and eager to do his best for her”, adding that he had “made a great
effort to establish a welcoming home for his daughter” and had enrolled in
parenting classes. Had Salma not died, the author said, she would have
recommended Mr ElSharkawy be given a full parenting assessment – bringing him
one step closer to regaining custody of his daughter.
He said yesterday: “I was given a ticket allowing me to see Salma on July 7.
That was the day Salma was buried. The hope had gone by the time the report
arrived. She would have flown in the air if she had known that I had passed the
assessment. We were looking forward to it so much. Salma would have definitely
come back.”
Opinion is split on whether sending children from Camden to somewhere as remote
as the Peak District is a wise move. Some social workers in the borough believe
it can break a cycle of behaviour and is a good emergency resort.
But you don’t have to probe too far before eyebrows are raised.
Salma’s mother Mary O’Sullivan said: “Salma told me she was lonely. She would
say come and see me. I thought she might be a bit nearer. All her friends were
here (in Camden).
“We needed Salma to be safe but I thought she was only going to be there for two
weeks. It was so far away. I went there a couple of times. I had a nice meal
with Salma and we had a nice time and the lady was very nice.”
Even neighbours of Adventure Care’s headquarters, on an anecdotal level at
least, were unsure of the wisdom of parachuting troubled kids into a place which
must seem like the middle of nowhere.
“They take these troubled kids from Manchester and other cities because they get
in trouble and have nothing to do,” said one, who has seen a string of children
come and go. “Then they bring them up here where there’s even less to do.”
Salma was taken away from her parents in 2005 at the age of 10, shortly after
her mother asked Camden’s social services for help with her care while her
husband was working abroad.
She would regularly abscond from her foster carers, at first running to her
parents. When she realised the police would find her there, she would sleep in
stairwells of housing blocks. Possibly the borough’s youngest roughest sleeper
at the time, she reportedly still tried to attend classes at Haverstock.
Mr ElSharkawy is campaigning to be given Salma’s secret journal – currently in
the hands of police. He spent the last week taking his demonstration around
Camden and will be moving to the Town Hall later this week.
Yesterday (Wednesday) he took an application to the Royal Courts of Justice
asking for an injunction to ensure Camden Council maintains full transparency
when looking into Salma’s case. Mr ElSharkawy has even vowed to spend the next
year knocking on every single door in Camden asking people to sign a petition
demanding Camden’s social workers get more training and are more accountable.
Those close to Salma said this week that while friends were back home, hanging
around Queen’s Crescent and talking on their mobile phones, the lonely
schoolgirl was telling people she would “die of depression” if she remained in
Buxton.
Mr ElSharkawy said: “I was just a stone’s throw away from getting my daughter
back. If they had moved a little earlier, Salma would be with me now. If they
used their hearts from day one, Salma would never have gone to that place.”
THE heartbroken parents of a 12-year-old girl killed in a car crash have blamed
themselves for letting Camden’s social services take their daughter away.
Haverstock School pupil Salma ElSharkawy died two weeks ago while in the care of
social services when her supervisor’s car smashed into a tree on a shopping
trip, killing them both.
An investigation has been launched into events leading up to the death of the
girl who called herself “Lil NW5 runaway” on her website.
Her death came after an unhappy final two years in the schoolgirl’s life as she
kept running away and sleeping on the streets in a battle to return to her
family.
Salma was taken away from her home in Allcroft Road, Gospel Oak, finally ending
up in a residential home in Derbyshire, after her mother, Mary O’Sullivan, asked
for help in controlling a daughter who had begun to develop behaviour problems.
Her father, Walid ElSharkawy, who was working as a technician for television
network Al Jazeera in Qatar in the Middle East at the time, said: “I want to say
I’m sorry to Salma. I should have stepped in when her mother needed help.
“We didn’t just lose her for three or four years we lost her forever. Once
they’ve got your child you may as well forget it. You’ll never get them back.”
The family lost a court battle to bring Salma back home despite handwritten
letters from the schoolgirl to the judge saying: “I think social services are
liars. I wish I could go home to my mum and dad. Know-one knows how I feel
except my mum (and) dad. I feel very sad and down. If you don’t say I am not
going home my life will be destroyed. Please let me go home.”
In another letter, she begged: “I wanna go home to my mum and dad. I want
another assessment please!”
Mr ElSharkawy claims he was not allowed to speak at the first family court
hearing, adding: “Salma was an only child. I had quite a lot of money sent from
Qatar.
“She was expecting too much from her mum and if her mum didn’t give her things
she would hit her. Her mother asked them to help her and the price we paid was
my daughter.”
Salma’s mother Mary said: “The council said it was neglect but I did everything
for Salma. There was no one to help me. I didn’t go to them so they would take
her away from me. I did my best in court but those assessments are very hard for
families. They’ve got to learn from this.”
Mr ElSharkawy said the family’s supervised contacts with Salma “were the worst
thing you can ever go through”. He added: “Someone writes down everything that
happens. If the child’s on the computer, they write the child’s not interested
in their parents. The first time I saw her after she was taken away I cried.
They wrote ‘he can’t control his feelings’.”
Mr ElSharkawy said social services gave a number of reasons for taking Salma
away, among them claims that she had suffered emotional abuse and that she had
been forced to watch a man being beheaded on television when she was visiting
her father in Qatar.
He said: “I was at work, her mother was in the kitchen and she saw it on the TV.
That’s what it’s like there.”
Mr ElSharkawy said that a social worker mistook a water jet hose – used in place
of toilet paper in the Middle East – for a sex toy.
He added: “In her website, she called herself Lil NW5 runaway and
queenscrescentstar. It’s so difficult to look at. All she wanted was to get back
to her family. I wrote on her website before she died saying ‘dad loves you’.”
A report, written by an officer from Gospel Oak social services team, said
police were unhappy about repeatedly having to take Salma from friends and
family each time she ran away. They feared she would end up sleeping in doorways
and stairwells instead.
Mr ElSharkawy said Salma was being changed by the care system. He added: “Since
they took her she started to smoke, to talk about sex – she was only 11. In the
end she was saved from everybody. She’s now at peace. We’ve been ruined beyond
repair.”
Salma’s mother Mary said her daughter called her from the Derbyshire residential
centre just before the accident.
She said: “She told me on the phone: ‘Never stop fighting for me, whatever you
do.’
“She was happy-go-lucky, kind to others and loved animals. She had two cats,
Louis and Charlie. She wanted to be a vet and used to go to Kentish Town City
Farm.
“She loved secondary school. She was so happy when she got her uniform, she was
very bright. I loved Salma very much.”
Police are piecing together the moments leading up to the accident in which the
green Peugeot Salma and her Buxton Keyworker were travelling in hit a tree at a
notorious accident black-spot in Millers Dale, north Derbyshire.
Salma was buried at the Cemetery of Peace in Ilford on July 7 following a
ceremony at Regent’s Park Mosque.
Her friend, Emily Edwards, 16, of Regent’s Park estate, said: “She was the most
bubbly girl, always smiling. She would come into school and everyone would be
tired and she would be running to her lessons.”
School friends and family gathered for a memorial service at St Dominic’s Priory
in Southampton Road, Gospel Oak, yesterday (Wednesday). One of her favourite
songs, Missing You by 1st Lady, was played at the service.
A Camden Council press official said that, at the time of the accident, Salma
had been staying in a residential activity centre until she could be placed with
a foster family.
The courts had granted a full care order in July last year based on two
independent assessments. This was to be reviewed in November following a further
assessment.
He added: “We are very saddened to hear of the death of Salma and her key
worker. We would like to offer our deepest sympathy to both families at this
difficult time.”
EXCLUSIVE
by ROISIN GADELRAB
also
Behind
closed doors... the decisions that can tear a child from her family
26 July 2007 - Salma
ElSharkawy
Camden New Journal - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Inquiry into care tragic Salma received
A mother pleads in court for girl’s return
THE tragic death of 12-year-old runaway Salma ElSharkawy – killed in a car crash
after being taken from her parents by social services – has exposed a care
system where decisions are taken behind closed doors, with relatives feeling
shut out.
Parents and social workers have contacted the New Journal after reading Salma’s
story last week, lifting the lid on a process which is rarely openly discussed.
Many have warned that resources are spent on court proceedings and foster carers
instead of helping parents struggling to cope.
The issues will be highlighted today (Thursday) when a mother from West
Hampstead goes to the High Court in a battle to win her daughter back from
Camden Council’s care.
She cannot be named for legal reasons but the woman claims her daughter jumped
out of a window after being taken away.
It will be argued in court that her child’s pleas to remain with her mother were
ignored.
She said this week: “I’m appealing to the Royal Courts because there’s no reason
for them to take her.
“I don’t have any contact with her whatsoever. They took her completely and she
disappeared from my life.
“When they took her they knew she had attempted to kill herself before. She had
told psychiatrists she would kill herself. She threw herself out of a window the
same night she was taken away but survived.”
The case comes in the wake of the death of Salma ElSharkawy in a car crash after
being taken into care. She had written letters to a family court judge asking to
return to her parents, but was sent to live with a family in Derbyshire, where
she died in the crash.
Initially, her mother had asked for help after Salma began developing
behavioural problems.
Camden’s children’s director Heather Schroeder is due to pick an independent
investigator with experience of the social care system to lead an external
inquiry into the care Salma received. Everyone who came into contact with Salma
is expected to be questioned.
Lib Dem councillor John Bryant, who holds the portfolio for children, said: “If
there are lessons to be learned we need to think those through. The coroner has
to decide the cause of death but that doesn’t help us out with risk
assessments.”
Following last week’s article, parents contacted the New Journal with their
concerns.
One woman, who used to live in Belsize Park, wrote in an email: “I’m in
Australia now with my children safe but I have all my documents with a list of
dodgy social workers and medical staff from two hospitals.”
Former foster carer Christine Brody, of Steeles Road, Belsize Park, said a young
relative was also failed by the system.
She added: “Camden has the most terrible reputation for frightening parents.
“Anybody can go to social services and report you and this immediately goes into
a ‘strategy process’. You don’t have the right to know this is even going on.
“Then a strategy meeting is called where the people concerned with the child are
invited but the parents don’t always have the right to attend. They all get
together with social services, have their meetings and say they want an
independent assessment. You believe them but they crucify you. You’re not given
any chance to question the allegations.”
She said social workers were concerned about damage to careers. “If they don’t
toe the line and fill the quotas and targets their careers suffer. All the time
they are throwing money at new schemes instead of supporting parents with their
children.”
In an email to the New Journal, Staffordshire social worker Rachel Mulcahy said:
“This sad case of Salma could happen anywhere in the country. If she had been on
my books there’s no way she would have been in the care system. The whole system
is unbalanced. They spend so much money on care proceedings and looked-after
children. When I was an area social worker, parents had been asking for help, in
most cases for two years. By the time they came to me the family were in crisis
and often the children were in the care system.”
Trevor Jones, a spokesman for Parents Against Injustice (PAIN), which assists
families caught up in care proceedings, said: “The system of taking children
into care operates behind closed doors where social workers are not accountable
for their actions.
“Without scrutiny, it is not surprising injustices occur and children are
removed permanently from innocent parents.”
Salma’s parents have questioned Camden Council about their daughter being passed
between so many social workers. They say they were told there was a shortage of
social workers and that the council struggled to hold on to the ones they had.
A council press official said Camden employs 160 children’s social workers, a
small proportion of whom are agency staff.
She added: “Camden Council is a high performing, four-star local authority with
a strong record of effectively protecting and supporting children, young people
and families. Our social workers do the valuable and challenging job of
supporting the needs of children, young people and families, often in very
difficult circumstances.
“We have at times faced similar problems to other local authorities in
recruiting good-quality social workers.
“We always try to ensure continuity of care and at the end of May, of children
known to Safeguarding and Social Care, more than three quarters had one social
worker allocated to them during the previous 12 months, 21 per cent had two
social workers and just one per cent had more than two social workers over the
same period.”
Inquests into the deaths of Salma and support worker Elizabeth Fitton, from
Buxton, Derbyshire, who also died in the crash, have been opened and adjourned.
Father takes protest to Downing St
Salma’s father Walid ElSharkawy is to hold a daily demonstration outside
Parliament and Downing Street for the next three weeks.
He said: “To me, Salma died on February 25 when she was taken away. Our voice
has always been repressed. Once a social worker gives evidence, they go and you
can’t question them. The system for contact visits is just another chance for
them to cement their case.”
Mr ElSharkawy has been documenting Salma’s story on his internet blog, and has
received messages of support on the website
www.fassit.co.uk from parents who say they have suffered similarly.
Salma's
father, Walid ElSharkawy mounts the families campaign for justice
http://camdensocialservices.blogspot.com/
