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Net closing in on fugitive family

statewatch | 22.11.2008 15:10 | Health | Other Press | Social Struggles | South Coast

The net appears to be closing in yet again on Natalie Bracht and her five daughters who have been on the run since May in attempt to avoid having their family torn apart by social workers.

At the weekend the police renewed their appeal for information with the publication of photos plus the names of the five girls which they had been previously been unable to publish. The high court recently made an unusual ruling allowing the police to ignore the childrens right to privacy and the appeal for information has ridden neatly on the back of public concern over the handling of the Baby P case.

As a result, the police claim that they have received many calls from the public reporting sightings of the family. Northumbria Police Detective Chief Inspector Ian Bentham who is leading the hunt said: "We have had more than twenty calls of interest following the release of new photographs of Natalie and the girls earlier this week. We are now going through the reports and are following up some interesting new leads."

The last reported sightings of the desperate family were at Exeter bus station where they bough tickets to Mortonhamstead. As a result of this sighting the police launch a dawn raid on a property in the area with at least twenty officers and a helicopter but failed to locate their prey. A couple of weeks earlier a similar operation had targeted what the press described as a commune near Yeovil. Again the police came up empty handed despite two visits, forty police offices, dogs and helicopters.

The failed Yeovil operation took place after cascade of police raids, searches and arrests in London and Bristol. Information provided by those arrested almost led the police straight to the fugitive family but the timely occurrence of the nearby glastonbury festival provided opportunities to slip the net and move on.

Natalie Bracht and her five children Indira, Naima, Elinour, Manjuh and Naomi (aged between five and thirteen) seem to have a remarkable ability to take flight at the right moment. After fleeing their home in Sunderland just hours before officials moved in to seize the children. They travelled to London in disguise to seek shelter and stayed for several happy weeks in a squat before apparently sensing that it was time to get out of the city.

The missing mum seems to be attracting an unusual amount on police resources and media attention and it is clear that the full story has not yet been revealed. The state continues to suggest that some kind of personality disorder exhibited by the mother means it is in best interest of the children to be taken into care. However, there are plenty of children bought up by parents with mental health problems who don't attract the attention in this way so that can't be all there is to the story.

Natalie own explanation seems to be tailored to the ear of the person listening and it's not clear whether she believes it herself. When speaking to Tony Gosling, a freelance journalist known for covering anti-Semite conspiracy theories, she told a inconceivable tale of international intrigue, spys and zionist plots. Such a tale would clearly make most people doubt her sanity and it seems unlikely that she would be using the same story to illicit the support of all who have helped up.

How much longer can Natalie and her five girls avoid capture as the big brother state turns to its subject to do the work that the police and CCTV nation have so far failed to do - only time will tell.

statewatch

Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Please take it off

22.11.2008 19:53

It would make it more difficult for the police to locate Natalie and her children if some idiots stopped posting indymedia about her. The picture of Natali and kids, which I saw on the first page of the Hackney Gazette, with explanation that it was taken form the internet, was posted on indy by Tony Gosling and as far as I know that's the best photo of all, where the faces are fully shown! Why some twats cannot find themselves something useful to do, or, alternatively, mind their own fucking business? And why is the indymedia collective letting this information go on the indymedia site?
On the good side: the poolice have no clue where to look for Natalie, far play to her: for a mentally ill mother she is protecting her children very well! Mentally ill or not she is a bloody good mother and everybody who met her was impressed with the way she brought her kids up. Maybe she just needed a bit of support. Because it is true she was telling strange stories.
On the bad side, the social services and the police have done a very bad job by forcing a vulnerable family in a very vulnerable situation. They had no business to take some very intelligent and well behaved children, who were doing very well at school, and putting them with different families, thus splitting them up from each other too, not only from their mother. They weren't so concerned about baby P weren't they? Than is a characteristic of cops: they are always there when they are not needed, when they are needed - to protect somebody, for instance - they are nowhere to be found.
Good luck Natalie wherever you are.

Me


Quite right

22.11.2008 23:40

"There is no problem so bad that the presence of a policeman will not make it worse."

Brendan Behan

...only there wasn't the internet when he said that and irresponsible gossips and egomaniacs didn't have such a public audience.

Stroppyoldgit


Yeah, shut down this site

23.11.2008 01:45

How dare indymedia allow this story that is all over the mainstream national newspapers and tv be mentioned here where the police might find out about it?

angry


Childrens' best interests?

23.11.2008 11:47

Dawn raids, dogs, helicopters? How terrifying must that be for young children.
If the mum does have a fragile mental state, that would push you into paranoia overdrive for sure, which will have an even greater effect on the family.
I question that the state are acting for the sake of the children. If the cops ever do catch up with them, they can take the highest blame for traumatising the kids.

Flo


Disgraceful

23.11.2008 16:57

What can we expect from a policeforce that murders innocents like de menezes and harasses the travelling community. The nazi stormtroopers in the police love their jobs.
A uniform means a free hand to any illegal acts so long as they dont get rumbled.
Class War smash the Police!

Concerned citizen


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