Knock on the door… and a child's world fell apart

AS SHE sits in her sister's bedroom, nervously clutching what was once her favourite doll, Melanie recalls the painful childhood memories and the day her world fell apart. For most children, tales of "the bogeyman" coming to take them away are the stuff of nightmares, but on 20 March, 1998, her worst fears were realised. The teenager vividly recalls the knock at the door and footsteps on the stairs as four social w orkers, flanked by policemen, came to take her and her younger sister into local authority care. Screaming hysterically, the two girls were prised away into the arms of strangers and watched helplessly as their mother was forcibly restrained and pinned to the ground. Frightened and alone, it was the first of many nights when they would cry themselves to sleep, taking what little comfort they could from each other.... [read full story]