Jul 2, '07 3:08 PM
for loretta's contacts
THIS IS THE LETTER I HAVE SPENT TODAY WRITING ON BEHALF OF AND FROM A YOUNG MOTHER WHO LIVES IN THE SAME TOWN AS MYSELF. ITS CONTENTS ARE TRUE, THIS LETTER HAS BEEN SENT TO OUR MSP, OUR MP, 4 MEP’S, COUNCILLORS, THE LOCAL AUTHORITY HOUSING OFFICER AND THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSING. I JUST HOPE IT DOES SOME GOOD.
Dear Sir/Madam
My name is ******** ********and I am writing to ask for your help. I have had a terrible experience with my youngest child ******, who is only three years old. We live in Local Authority owned accommodation and at 12 noon on Friday 21st June 2007 she was playing in our garden without her shoes on. She trod on a used hypodermic needle discarded under her bedroom window in MY garden, presumably by a junkie.
Fortunately my sister was with me at the time because I was so distressed I found it difficult to telephone the emergency services and ask what I should do. My sister telephoned for me and was told to take the child DIRECTLY AND IMMEDIATELY to the Accident & Emergency unit at (A MAJOR HOSPITAL A&E UNIT). We were told not to take her to the local accident and emergency unit at ******** ******** as they would not have the expertise or experience to deal with this sort of injury in such a young child. We were asked to bring the needle with us for testing in case there were significant traces of any dangerous drug left in the needle that may have been injected into ******. ****** needed to be injected to protect her from the risk of developing HEPITITUS B , this is an extremely painful injection for an adult to have, it took three nurses to hold my three year old daughter down in order to administer this injection. She will need another two injections, all equally distressing and painful, over the course of the next few months. The staff at ********* was so kind and reassuring but even they were upset at such a small child having to have these painful injections. Due to her age and tiny size they had to investigate the exact dose of the drug needed, not one of the staff had ever had to give such a small child this injection before and none of them knew the dose needed. ****** also had her arm frozen and then bloods taken for analysis. We have been offered HIV testing and counselling, which I think for our future peace of mind we will go ahead with. Since this incident ****** has not slept well, she has nightmares and wakes screaming. We have a small two bedroom apartment and she shares a bedroom with her 5 year old brother who, due to her disturbed sleep, has been getting very little sleep himself. This makes him tired and miserable and consequently difficult at school. I am afraid to let them play outside even in their own garden and they are both becoming bored and overactive due to being cooped up indoors all of the time. My neighbour ****** ******, who lives at ** ***** ****, (right next door to me), is I believe well known to the police as a drug dealer. I have shared my concerns about this tenant with our housing officer Mrs ****** ****** on several occasions, Mrs ******’s response has always been ‘we will keep an eye on her’. But nothing has ever been done, either by the police or by the local authority, to stop this woman openly dealing drugs in an area of family housing. From my living room window I see a constant stream of very undesirable looking people wandering past my garden and entering her property. They come in two’s and three’s, sometimes they come alone. They only ever stay for a few short minutes and then they leave again. Some of them are so obviously drugged they are barley able to stand and completely unable to walk without staggering. I have witnessed cars pulling up, people coming out of her flat and what looks like large amounts of money changing hands through the driver’s car window. There have been fights, arguments, people screaming in the street in the early hours of the morning and a constant stream of drug addicts coming and going. There have been people screaming, banging on her door and threatening to kick the door down, and all of this happens openly and in an area full of families and young children. I believe the reason the junkies have taken to using MY garden to inject their drugs and discard their needles is because, in an attempt to protect my children, I paid a lot of money to have wooden fences build all around my garden. It now seems this has just provided a space for the junkies to inject their drugs without being seen from the street.
What I need, what my family needs it to be away from this drug seller and her customers who throw needles into my garden. If it really is impossible for the authorities to move her out of this area then PLEASE PURSUADE THEM TO MOVE ME, my children do not deserve to live like this. Both of my children are now so disturbed by the hospital experience, being cooped up indoors, the constant shouting and screaming from next door and the consequential lack of sleep, they need to move out of here. They also need a bedroom each, ****** is disturbed every night, she wets the bed, she has nightmares and she disturbs her brother because they both share the same room. I am writing to everyone I can think of who may be able to help because I am desperate and because I just can’t think of any thing else to do. Please do what ever you can to help me.
Yours sincerely
******** ******
NB. MP = Member of Parliament ( UK ), MSP = Member of the Scottish Parliament, MEP = Member of the European Parliament
Copies of this letter sent to all of the following
Mrs ******
Housing Officer
Mr ******
Director of Housing
, Local Councillor
, Local Councillor
, Local Councillor
, Local Councillor
Mr Andrew Welsh MSP
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Mr Mike Weir MP
House of Commons
Houses of Parliament
London
Mr Ian Hudghton MEP
The Tun
4 Jacksons Entry
Holyrood Road
-Edinburgh
EH8 8PJ
David Martin MEP
Address as above
Catherine Stihler MEP
Address as above
Alyn Smith MEP
Address as above
Tags: 360 import, health, mental health, disgarded needles
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