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Each morning, Natasha Groves drives to the cemetery where her daughter, Lillian, is buried, and sits at her graveside for half an hour before going back home to face the day. Twenty months have passed since 14-year-old Lillian died, but her family’s pain has not eased. Still, going to her daughter’s grave each day gives [...]

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The bond between sisters Luan Moreton, Kim Jones and Jemma Dennis could not be any stronger. Losing their 32-year-old mother, Rita, to breast cancer in 1986, when they were 12, seven and four, they share an exceptional closeness. What they didn’t know until five years ago, however, is that they share something else too; something [...]

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It was a day like any other. I got back from work, called out my wife’s name, Kim, and waited for my little boy, Jobe, then two, to come running up to me as usual. Nothing happened; the house was silent. The washing was still on the line, so I assumed they’d popped out. Day turned [...]

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Even now, I can still remember the exact spot in my bedroom where my mother was standing as she announced she was divorcing my father. My parents had been due to emigrate to Australia for a ‘fresh start’ after years of affairs, separations and recriminations. I was ten so I still believed in ‘happily-ever-afters’. I [...]

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Fathers will get improved contact with their children following divorce, amid plans to rewrite the law governing custody disputes. A ministerial working group will decide how to amend the Children’s Act 1989 and might include in it a “presumption of shared parenting”. The changes are part of an overhaul in family law that is described [...]

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New rules will be “much clearer that it is vital for children to have an ongoing relationship with both parents”, the Department for Education said. However ministers looked set to disappoint fathers’ rights campaigners by ruling out any legal guarantee of equal access. A review led by former mandarin David Norgrove last year rejected the [...]

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Eleven months after losing seven children in a fire that tore through their  farmhouse, Ted and Janelle Clouse are expecting their 10th child. A baby girl is due in June, the couple from Pennsylvania said. ‘We’ve always believed we’ll take what we’re given,’ Mr Clouse told WHTM-TV. via Couple expecting tenth child 11 months after [...]

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Labour’s multi-billion pound investment in free nursery education has failed to raise school standards, a damning auditors’ report revealed yesterday. Free sessions for all three and four-year-olds – costing up to £1.9billion-a-year – have failed to translate into improved exam results at age seven. The scheme was specifically intended to boost children’s development throughout primary [...]

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Ministers intend to rewrite the law in an attempt to ensure that fathers get improved access to their offspring after a marriage breaks down. Currently, family courts decide to leave children with their mothers in the vast majority of divorce cases. Campaigners have long complained that without a legal right to see their children, fathers [...]

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The mother of stabbing victim Abigail Witchalls yesterday criticised the News of The World for revealing her daughter was pregnant at the time of the attack, just four days after close relatives found out themselves. Speaking at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards, Baroness Hollins said she had no idea how the now-defunct tabloid acquired [...]

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A father has attacked a celebrity culture which ‘glorifies and trivalises’ drug taking after his 16-year-old son died from taking ecstasy sold to him at a nightclub. Public school deputy head Tom Simons said his son, Joe, was the victim of a ‘complacent’ approach to drug use, which he said was ‘spreading like a cancer’. [...]

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Little Bailey Massey rocked with laughter when he watched his favourite cartoon characters on TV as he battled a rare liver disease. Nine month old Bailey loved Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder along with Donald and Daisy Duck. And when he died after three transplants failed, his family paid tribute to [...]

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A teenager has been found guilty of murdering a school friend he claimed had pestered him for sex. Craig Roy, 19, was convicted over the death of 16-year-old Jack Frew in woodland near their school in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, in May 2010. He stabbed the younger boy 20 times and slashed his throat with [...]

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Parents were today warned of the deadly dangers of nappy sacks, after it emerged eleven babies have suffocated after pulling the bags over their faces. Doctors said infants have an automatic reflex to grab things within reach and bring them to their mouths. Nappy bags are made from thin plastic that can cling to a [...]

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There is no such thing as a good divorce when children are involved, a study has concluded. The analysis of almost 1,000 families found that children suffer when their parents’ marriage ends – no matter how amicable the split. The researchers said their finding contradicts the widely-held belief that it is possible to have a [...]

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A father died after three medics failed to spot that he had suffered a heart attack, an inquest heard yesterday. Dean Beresford, 44, said he was having chest pains and struggling to breathe, and that he had a family history of heart problems. But after speaking to an NHS Direct nurse and to a GP [...]

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Miss Paltrow, who won an Oscar for her role in Shakespeare in Love, said she cooks for her husband, Coldplay star Chris Martin, and bathes their children, Apple, 7, and Moses, 5. She rises at 7am and works on her website and cookery books while her children are at school, before preparing dinner for her [...]

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Stripping child benefit from 1.5million families is unfair and could encourage them to work less, leading financial analysts say. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the way in which the Government was targeting high earners was ill considered. In some cases parents might even be better off apart. All families with young children are given [...]

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A heavily pregnant woman has been jailed for four years after hatching ‘a wicked plot’ to frame an innocent ex-lover by trying to falsely portray him as a paedophile. Malicious Rebecca Tooze, 35, arranged for a vile photograph depicting a naked child in a bondage harness to be slipped into the car of a man [...]

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Scotland Yard’s review of the Madeleine McCann case is expected to cost nearly £2 million in its first year. Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command are carrying out a re-examination of the original investigation into the girl’s disappearance in Portugal in May 2007. Since beginning work last May, the British officers [...]

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A babysitter who wiped party drug Meow Meow on the mouth of the six-year-old girl she was looking after was today warned she could face jail. Chelsea Taylor, 17, was supposed to be looking after the girl – but instead snorted the drug, also known as bubbles or mephedrone, with friends. She then wiped her [...]

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Parents should never smack their children because they risk ‘today’s smack will becoming tomorrow’s punch’, according to senior doctors. Using ‘physical assault’ to discipline youngsters is also a ‘very ineffective deterrent’ to bad behaviour, claim specialists from the Royal College of Paediatrics. They spoke out after David Lammy, a former education minister, said last summer’s [...]

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A 15-year-old boy charged with murdering both of his adoptive parents had been arguing with his mother about getting suspended at school when he strangled her, a court heard. Moses Kamin, 15, was charged as an adult when he appeared in Alameda County Superior Court yesterday but did not enter a plea deal to charges [...]

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A teenager has been stabbed in his school uniform in a suspected “postcode war”, as new figures show knife crime is surging. The 14-year-old was attacked by a gang armed with knives and baseball bats at Kenny’s Barber Shop in Lordship Lane, Wood Green, at about 2pm yesterday. His blood-soaked vest and school tie could [...]

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As MPs resume their debate on the Welfare Reform Bill – the government wants to cap benefits claimed by families to £26,000 a year – we look at one family that may be affected by the changes. Unemployed father-of-seven Raymond (not his real name) and his family rent a former council house on a social [...]

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Cassie McCord, the teenager killed by a driver who failed an eye test, gave away her corneas and scleras to help others see, her mother has revealed. Other organs the 16-year-old donated included a life-saving liver, pancreas and kidneys – and Jackie McCord has already received a letter from the recipient of some of the [...]

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As incriminating images go, the action shot posted on rock-climber Menna Pritchard’s blog is just about as incendiary as it gets. There she is, clinging to a limestone rockface, 30ft up, wearing a safety helmet, sensible girl, and beaming with pleasure. Nothing wrong with that. But look! Some mischievous trickster has photoshopped a bemused toddler [...]

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A popular high school student committed suicide after her cries for help to her hundreds of online friends were ignored. Ashley Duncan, 17, wrote ‘I finally got a gun’ and then posted a picture of a revolver which, soon after, it is believed she used to shoot herself dead. It followed a series of increasingly [...]

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In a letter to The Daily Telegraph, the specialists say the punishment is equivalent to “physical assault” and is a “very ineffective deterrent” to bad behaviour. prof Terence Stephenson, president of the college, suggests that parents instead adopt a “positive” approach and set stronger boundaries for their children. The college decided to intervene after Cristina [...]

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The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, will give families affected by the government’s £26,000 welfare cap at least nine months to adapt to the loss of benefits, thereby allowing them more time to find a job or move house before the limit is imposed. It has been suggested that as many as 200,000 [...]

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The parents of two girls killed in a level crossing accident have pledged to continue their fight for improved safety after Network Rail (NR) admitted health and safety breaches. Olivia Bazlinton, 14, and Charlotte Thompson, 13, were hit by a train in 2005 as they crossed the tracks at Elsenham station footpath crossing in Essex. [...]

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The Paris criminal court ordered Prince Sattam al-Saud from the kingdom’s founding royal family, to hand over custody of his daughter Aya to her French mother, Candice Cohen-Ahnine, and provide child support of €10,000 (£8,300) a month. For the past three-and-a-half years, the prince has kept Aya in a Riyadh palace despite efforts by the [...]

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The two-year-old died after making his way into the path of the Go-Gator ride at a fair at Ducketts Common in Wood Green, north London on May 12, 2009. Before the incident Erjon had been playing on the bouncy castle, known as the Fun Bag, where his father was watching him. Delivering a narrative verdict, [...]

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A 54-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of a missing teenager and a man were found in a pond in Canterbury yesterday. The first body was found in Reed Pond, near Tennyson Avenue, at about 12pm. The second body was recovered by police divers at about 9.40pm. One was [...]

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Parents who fail in basic duties such as cooking meals and putting children to bed were today blamed for creating the “underclass” who rioted last summer. Charlie Taylor, the Government’s behaviour czar, criticised families where children grow up “without boundaries and often without love”. The lack of basic parenting led children to fend for themselves [...]

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A man has been fined £800 for allowing a five-year-old boy to open gates at a private railway crossing without checking it was safe. He should have used a designated phone to see if the line in Gwynedd was clear, Dolgellau magistrates heard. A train driver braked near Talybont with the boy on one side [...]

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Clearly aware of the risks involved in rock-climbing, Menna Pritchard has taken the precaution of kitting herself out with a safety helmet. Incredibly, however, not only has she decided to scale the cliff with her two-year-old daughter Ffion strapped to her back – but she has also left the toddler’s head unprotected. Clinging on as [...]

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Children are fascinated by animals, and books about animals are a great way to get youngsters interested in reading. ZSL London Zoo – and its partner ZLS Whipsnade – are involved with Bloomsbury in producing children’s books and there are some good additions to their collections in the 2012 list. Michael Terry’s Who Lives Here? [...]

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A Parliamentary answer by David Gauke, a Treasury minister, disclosed that HM Revenue & Customs was missing its target of dealing with child benefit claims within 23 days. Instead, it has taken an average of 29 days to process the claims, and will not hit its target until next financial year. Mr Gauke said the [...]

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The research, by Sheffield Hallam University, showed that a basket of frozen family groceries cost just £15.45, whereas the same items bought fresh would cost £23.25. By opting for frozen versions of family favourites – such as broccoli, salmon and sausages – families could save almost £8 per supermarket trip. Charlotte Harden, a nutrition and [...]

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The bodies of civil servants Robert Kamin, 55, and Susan Poff, 50, were found under blankets in a parked car outside their home in Oakland, California. They had been strangled. Police believe someone then tried to set light to the car which was charred. Friends and relatives said the couple had worked tirelessly for the [...]

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Charlie Taylor, the Coalition’s top expert on behaviour, said thousands of pupils were being consigned to the “scrapheap” after being kicked out of mainstream education. He insisted that the most unruly children lacked proper boundaries after being referred to specialist units and often drifted towards local gangs to find a “sense of belonging”. In a [...]

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Mohammad Shafia, the girls’ father and husband of the fourth victim, was secretly taped by police describing his daughters as a “disgrace” and complaining that they dated boys and wore inappropriate clothes. He was sentenced to life in prison along with his second wife, Tooba Yahya – who he was married to illegally – and [...]

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Parents who neglect basic duties such as preparing meals and enforcing bedtimes are breeding a feckless ‘underclass’ who cause mayhem on the nation’s streets, it was claimed yesterday. Charlie Taylor, the Government’s behaviour tsar, criticised homes with ‘little conversation’ where children as young as eight are left to fend for themselves at mealtimes and play [...]

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Inspections of child protection services in England are to be unannounced, more intensive and child-focused, the inspecting body, Ofsted has announced. Under the plans, inspectors will speak directly to children and their families for the first time. Inspectors will also look at how social work departments communicate with other bodies such as the police and [...]

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Dalisha Adams, 26, left her children aged three and five on a cold street in Brooklyn at around 3pm on Sunday afternoon. They were spotted by an elderly couple playing on the pavement as cars raced by them. Both girls were dressed warmly, in bright purple and pink winter jackets and fluffy boots, but appeared [...]

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A schoolgirl was listening to music on her headphones when she was killed by a train on a level crossing, police suspect. GP’s daughter Katie Littlewood, 15, was struck at high speed while using the pedestrian crossing. A pair of headphones were found near her body at Johnson’s Footpath in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, and British [...]

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A 10-year-old boy has undergone two major operations after a Staffordshire Bull Terrier ripped a large hole in his leg in Greater Manchester. Mohammed Ali Kamal has returned home after spending four nights in hospital since the dog attacked him in Miles Platting, Manchester, last Thursday. His parents heard his screams and ran to his [...]

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The death of the 13-year-old son of a US Air Force lieutenant colonel from gunshot wounds has been described as a “tragic accident” as police launched an investigation into the incident. The 13-year-old boy was shot in the head at a house in Souldern, near Bicester, Oxfordshire, on Sunday morning. He died at the John [...]

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Even if the arch feminist Germaine Greer did once dismiss Cherie Blair as a mere “concubine”, women’s rights have always been close to the heart of the former prime minister’s wife. Now, however, Mrs Blair, who runs a foundation for women, says it is a “myth” that members of her sex can ever have it [...]

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