WA: Abandoned children were let down, says great-grandfather

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-2003
WA: Abandoned children were let down, says great-grandfather

By Tim Clarke

PERTH, Dec 30 AAP - The great-grandfather of the three children abandoned outside a
police station in a shopping trolley said he feels the West Australian welfare system
had let them down.

Arthur Dunn, 63, is the grandfather of the 20 year-old woman who left her eight-week-old
daughter and two sons aged 15 months and three years, outside Collie police station on
Saturday.

The woman and her 24-year-old partner sparked a massive 48-hour police hunt until they
were spotted at a Centrelink in Bunbury yesterday begging for help.

The pair told police that they had left their children outside the police station to
ensure they would receive care, because they could not cope.

They will not face any charges.

The three youngsters are now with foster parents, after WA's Department of Community
Development lodged a care and protection order in the Children's Court yesterday.

Mr Dunn said he was shocked when he learnt the youngsters had been left to fend for
themselves, and that community welfare agencies should have acted sooner.

"It's been a shock to me. The first I heard was on the radio yesterday. I heard the
name and rang my daughter," Mr Dunn said.

"She's only 20. I think some of the community welfare agencies have not been looking
after her too well. I think the police have done a great job.

"She must have been in dire straits to do something like that."

Mr Dunn, who has been out of contact with his granddaughter and her parents for a number
of years, said the family is having discussions about what to do next and if they should
take the children.

Another of his daughters is considering it, but discussions are continuing.

The search for the pair began when the three children were spotted outside the police
station in the state's south-west at 1.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

After paramedics were called and examined the children, the infant received treatment
for sunburn and dehydration while the older children were declared fit and well.

Police said they had been very concerned for the welfare of the woman, who was last
seen with the children on the evening of Boxing Day in the main street of Collie.

Shortly after leaving the youngsters, the woman contacted a local shopkeeper in Collie
to explain what she had done, and to ask that police be informed.

Supt McRoberts said this information was not passed on to them, although the children
were discovered soon afterwards.

Both the mother and her partner were earlier named by police in an effort to find them.

AAP tc/tma/jlw

KEYWORD: CHILDREN

2003 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.