22 August - Rhys Lawrie. After the trial. Bexley council’s involvement
The grandfather of the murdered three year old Rhys Lawrie didn’t confine his post trial
letter writing to the police;
Trevor Lawrie also wrote to the Crown Prosecution Service, the defence barrister, the High Court of Justice,
the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), his elder grandchild’s school, the Independent Police
Complaints Commission, the General Medical Council, the Local Government Ombudsman and of course Bexley council.
Trevor’s letter writing could be fairly described as forthright in style, he
comes straight to the point. If he thinks someone contributed to the death of
his grandchild he says so. If he has used the word lie or lying a dozen times he
doesn’t consult a thesaurus for an alternative and I imagine the addressees might
feel uncomfortable to have their failings and the consequences put before them so
clearly; but that is presumably his intention.
Trevor had sent such letters to Bexley council Social Services before the trial because he was
concerned for the welfare of Rhys’s elder brother as well as Bexley’s lack of interest in
Rhys’s difficult upbringing. In the period immediately after the murder replies from Bexley
council referred to the assistance it had offered Rhys’s mother Sadie Henry, whose parenting skills may
have left something to be desired. Apparently she had been provided with guidance. This was
variously described as a Simple Programme, a Domestic Skills Programme, an Anger Management Course
and a Mother and Child Get Together - all dependent on which Social Worker answered Trevor’s letters.
Trevor does not believe any programme or course took place. No evidence was provided and Trevor’s
son, father of both boys, was unaware of any Bexley council involvement. There was no excuse for
that, he was not an absentee father and until just before the arrival of toyboy Cameron Rose, was part of the family unit.
Despite the occasionally accusatory tone of Trevor’s letters, all of the many official bodies
responded to Trevor’s concerns and explained their positions however unpalatable Trevor might
find them. Not so Bexley council, it found a reason to opt out. Below is the complete letter to
the bereaved grandfather from Bexley’s Deputy Director, Social Care & Safeguarding.
(108,708 p.a. plus 20% of salary for the pension pot.)
The final paragraph looks suspiciously like the notorious ‘lessons will be learned’ so beloved by failed bureaucrats.
Note: It was only after the trial that Bexley council adopted this position - but no other official body did.
The Rhys Lawrie blog index.