Heartbreak of Amber Peat's father as he reveals his daughter had begged social services to let her live with him before she was found hanged in the garden after row with her mum and stepdad
- Adrian Cook, 40, has spoken of his heartbreak of daughter Amber's death
- Amber Peat, 13, disappeared from Mansfield home after holiday on May 30
- She was found hanged four days later in a hedgerow less than a mile away
- He said she had asked social services to live with him in lead up to death
The
grieving father of Cinderella schoolgirl Amber Peat has revealed his
heartbreak at discovering his 13-year-old daughter had begged social
services to let her live with him in the lead up to her death.
Adrian
Cook, 40, said his young daughter had desperately asked the
authorities if she could move in with him, with paperwork revealing
concerns of 'extreme punishments, constant ridicule and lack of
emotional warmth' at the home she shared with her mother Kelly, 34,
and stepfather Danny, 31.
Amber
went missing from her home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on May 30
following a family holiday to Cornwall and was found hanged in a
hedgerow less than a mile away four days later.
Amber Peat, 13, went missing from her home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on May 30 after returning from a family half-term holiday to Cornwall and was found hanged in a hedgerow less than a mile away four days later
It
later emerged the teenager had stormed out of the family home
following a row over household chores.
Now,
Mr Cook, from Inverness, has spoken of his heartbreak at learning
since her death how she was desperate to move in with him and leave
the home she shared with her mother and stepfather behind.
He
told the Sunday
Mirror:
'I had no idea she was reaching out for me.
'All
the while I'd been fighting to see her and she didn't know that
either. It breaks my heart.
'She
was my little girl. I never gave up hope I would get her back. I had
no idea she was suffering so badly since I left and that kills me. It
will be with me forever.'
Unbeknown
to Amber, Mr Cook had been saving up to hire a lawyer to help him in
a bid to take custody of the teenager.
He
was stopped from seeing her for the two years prior to her death
after losing parental rights when he split from her mother.
Since the pair were never married and Amber was born before the law changed in 2003 to allow equal rights to both parents, he had no right to see her.
Her
mother stopped him from contacting the youngster when she met Danny
Peat in 2013, and even moved house and changed her telephone number.
Mr
Cook said the last time he saw his daughter she was 'eating chocolate
ice-cream', and he never imagined police would be contacting him two
years later to tell him she had died.
Describing
his 'special girl', he now claims social workers in Derbyshire and
Nottinghamshire let her down by failing to act when she asked to move
in with him last year.
She
had apparently had enough of living with her mother and stepfather
where, according to neighbours and relatives, she led a Cinderella
type of existence, carrying the burden of more than her fair share of
the domestic chores and being chastised if jobs were not completed
'satisfactorily'.
An
investigation by the Mail earlier this month also found revealed one
particular moment, when she was spotted standing outside the family
home with her hands above her head.
At
the time, a neighbour said: 'We heard him [Mr Peat] shouting at her
and telling her to go outside with her hands above her head as a
punishment for looking at his laptop.'
On
another occasion, a relative told how Amber had to clean out the
kitchen cupboards before bed, only they 'weren't done properly so he
[Mr Peat] made her get up and clean them again.'
Last
year, unemployed Mr Peat was jailed for 16 months over a £120,000
tax fraud. He and an accomplice admitted attempting to falsely claim
more than £200,000 in tax rebates.
Derby
Crown Court heard Mr Peat was the instigator and received £78,000
from the scam.
A serious case review has now started into Amber's death by the local Safeguarding Children Board, an organisation made up of groups such as councils, the police and the NHS, whose responsibilities include protecting young people.
Such
reviews are undertaken 'when a child dies or is seriously injured,
and abuse or neglect are known or suspected to be factors in the
death', according to its website.
Meanwhile,
the coroner is awaiting for reports from social services and other
agencies before holding the full inquest hearing and no date has yet
been set.
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