News

Glyn Mutton has highlighted child protection problems
advertisement

Broadmoor daddy didn’t have a clue

By Natalie Slater
March 11, 2010

A former Broadmoor patient who was jailed for terrorism charges was persuaded to take on a child by Reading’s social services department, it has been revealed.

Glyn Mutton, 47, from Wrenswood Close in Whitley, was encouraged to take custody of his son in 2006, only three years after being sent to the top security psychiatric hospital.

He was sent there after using the IRA codeword and threatening to blow up the Tamar Bridge in Cornwall in August 2003.

Mr Mutton had a brief affair with the mother of his child and, when she became pregnant, social services decided she was an unfit mother and encouraged Mr Mutton, who still has issues with his mental health, to take the baby on.

Two years later in December 2008, social services took the baby away over fears for his welfare when it realised the extent of Mr Mutton’s history.

Mr Mutton told the Reading Post of his situation and said he thought it was wrong for the social workers to encourage him to take on the child.

He said his case highlighted the inadequacies of the then-child protection department that has since undergone a complete overhaul in staff and procedures.

He said: “How many other children were under the care of these incompetent staff and how many parents have lost their child because of that?

“The mother of my child was deemed unsuitable so I was approached by social services to take responsibility of the child with their full support. I was given a newborn baby to look after on my own.

“They encouraged me to do that even though I had never done it before and even with my background. I had just come out of Broadmoor.

“Six months later they started to look into me because I was not getting on with my social worker.

“I had been through six social workers in two years and none of them actually knew me.

“When I was given my son I installed CCTV around the house so I could be watched all the time.

“I filmed myself so they could check my parenting skills but when they took me to court to take my son away they said the evidence was inadmissible.

“They started going through my historical records and found I had firearm offences and charges for possession of explosives and I had convictions under the Terrorism Act, but I had always been very open and told them about it from day one.

“I have not broken the law for eight years and I have turned my life around now. I have done everything that has been asked of me since I came to Reading but I can never have my son back now because they broke that bond between father and son.

“I can’t start again now as my son is nearly four. It is better for him to stay where he is.

“I just wanted to prove the incompetence of that department from back then. I believe they were incompetent to put me forward to look after my son but I am pleased to see big changes have been made since then.”

Chris Branagan, Reading Borough Council spokesman, said: “We cannot comment on the individual case. However, in all cases, a court would not allow a placement to be made with a parent without the proper assessments and checks being made on them.

“Later issues may emerge after placing a child that then make it necessary for other action to be taken to protect a child.”

nslater@reading-epost.co.uk

| Submit Comments | View Comments (9)

« Previous Story | Next Story »

Most recent user comments 9 of 9

Show 15 | 25 | 50 per page

Stop judging people you dont even know Social services are w*****s every one should know that all they want is to f*** peoples heads up and get money for their careless self they boss the inercent people around but they don't look at the people that do drugs and drink

Sarah Davis
07/06/2011 at 13:54

I agree that social services need to spend time with families to get a better grasp of the situation. So many issues go unnoticed because they only make quick visits.

CMA
22/03/2010 at 12:51

social services can be a hindrence instead of a help, they need to spend time with these families not a quick visit to make a judgement, people do change in time and need help.

the truth
16/03/2010 at 13:43

The more negative stuff people say about a family the stronger they become, it's not what's on the outside of a person it's what's on the inside that matters the most, no one should Juge a book by it's cover, don't Juge or you too will be Juged, there is always light at the end of the tunel.

Sarah Davis

Sarah Davis
16/03/2010 at 12:12

A strange ,but not very surprising story! The workings of the social services always amaze me.........and this comment comes from my experiences in dealing with them!

Howard Thomas Common Sense party
13/03/2010 at 01:58

“...when it realised the extent of Mr Mutton’s history.”

When they finally listened to him and went back to do the checks they should have done in the first place?

Good for them in realizing the mistakes of the past, but when the father has obviously taken precautions to film his behaviour and parenting skills for support and assistance, it seems incredibly harsh to then split them apart without reviewing the time they spent together. I hope he does see his son again, to not lose him after all that time together. And for the father to be supportive of the more recent actions of the department is an incredible, extremely moving response to take.

Nowtas, Reading West
12/03/2010 at 13:34

The lunatics have taken over the asylum

Nimrod Maximus
11/03/2010 at 13:51

Even worse, they don't accept that they may have made mistakes or should have done further checks from the start.

CMA
11/03/2010 at 13:37

I don't think some families that are still under social services would say they have improved. The worse things is that they make mistakes and they expect us to say nothing, but when individuals make mistakes they have their children taken. What about looking at the children of the social workers riping famillies apart - doesn;t their parenting skills come into question.