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00:02he obviously was on a mission i felt like he was just such a dangerous person
00:11every time you did phone the police they did turn up but nothing was done
00:18he is a violent unstable character he sets out on foot to walk 28 miles
00:27to the house bethany shares with dj and the baby
00:33the messages clearly step up every step of his way this is him trying to be in control
00:47she was just too scared to say anything he's saying that if it isn't sorted out he will wipe out
00:53the
00:54bloodline he'd everything worse knowing that he'd already told somebody what he was going to do and
01:01nobody believed it i don't think it'll ever get any easier still to this day why
01:29that day was a normal day for us bethany was buzzing about places being packed up
01:35my fan and removals was all in place i was excited for her because it was a sunday and i
01:43knew that she
01:44was moving on the tuesday dj just got his haircut uh a certain way that he's been asking for for
01:51months
01:52he looked grown up he looked uh he looked pretty cool actually we knew when she moved
02:00it would be totally different for her you know just her place it's like you can put all that
02:06darkness behind you and all the bad times behind you and look for this fresh start for her
02:15even if he did find out where she was i was literally only around the corner and
02:21mum and dad wouldn't be so far away so if something did happen
02:25we would be there but i didn't know what he was doing at the time
02:32bethany's move from louth was imminent and for some reason and without discussing it with anybody
02:41shortly before midnight on the 30th of may bolton walked from the hostel in skegness to bethany's home in
02:51louth 28 miles overnight
02:58bolton's mental health in this shelter means that the absolute risk to her is much heightened but this
03:06isn't conveyed to her
03:20i had no idea about what was going on or brewing or that he was walking so many miles to
03:28no one did
03:32every step of the way it was uh very much about how do i get control back of this relationship
03:40he's speaking to a number of people about his agitated and aggressive state
03:47this is now a guy with real high risk of harm to bethany he's exceptionally dangerous
03:58we had no idea
04:08bethany had always been a real strong person a real good judge of character up till then
04:16she used to do a lot of reading she loved reading
04:23it's right it's just a bit i was talking about sorry
04:28we loved center parks everything about center parks it's just our place to go
04:35we always used to love swimming especially at night time too the swimming was really good at
04:40night time going down the rapids and that i know we always used to wind mom and dad off a
04:45lot because
04:46he was always fighting a lot they used to fight about silly little things but always stick up for each
04:55other
05:00so bethany came along and said she was seeing a boy from the village and when we found out who
05:07it was
05:08we weren't best pleased
05:18she was besotted she was very young on april falls day she came in and told us she was pregnant
05:27we took kieran in and he moved in with us we thought at least we know where they are they're
05:32safe
05:33they're warm we got everything sorted and ready for baby coming
05:40i was with her when dj was born
05:46the love was there straight away
05:51when it all come along i felt proud
05:57and it got to the stage where they were coping well so we thought right well they don't want to
06:03be
06:03living with us forever so we looked for a little place for them and then they went to their own
06:08little
06:08place obviously they had the rocks and dams and obviously i had to step in now and again
06:15but they were good
06:29we could tell he was not developing as he should be verbally and this and the other
06:37we could tell he was not developing as he should be verbally and this and the other
06:46he was just over two years old when he got diagnosed with autism
06:55it was hard on them but she just carried on and kieran did as well i mean he proved to
07:00me that he was
07:01a good parent they did separate i think they got together too young and too soon
07:10to be honest he had a brilliant childhood with his mum and his dad and his nana
07:25bethley was single for a good few years she was quite happy to provide for dj
07:33she'd moved to a little bungalow which was nice just around the corner from us
07:39we got the inkling that she was talking to someone online
07:45which kept quite private for a while but then announced that she had been speaking to someone
07:50online
08:07i hate saying his name
08:11do i have to say his name no okay
08:18i don't want to say it's there
08:41she told us that he used to live in the village he used to go to her primary school
08:49he then moved away but moved back to the area
08:52he seemed a really polite nice young man yeah
09:02i was happy for her that she'd met somebody that was nice at the beginning with dj he was quite
09:09understanding so that was a good thing no big warning signs then
09:17he was taking all the boxes at first but obviously in the back of my mind why you know where
09:24where
09:24did they meet i was on the fence and it's that apparent thing i don't know but my daughter's happy
09:33so i have to stand by
09:48i suppose
09:50i suppose it changed when bethany always used to phone mom so many times a day and then them phone
09:58calls started to go a bit less
10:01which i thought you know she's in a new relationship now she doesn't want her mom
10:05phone in her all the time so you kind of sweep that under the carpet a bit
10:11there was a time when we didn't hear her for a few days so we went round knocked on the
10:18door
10:19she shut the door on us
10:23never ever has she ever done that to me or her mother
10:28but then it started to get a bit worse
10:34when you hear your daughter upset on the phone it's not nice it's not nice
10:40it just seemed to creep up so slowly but then in a contradiction it just seemed to happen like that
10:49the extra layer of tragedy to me is that so many people knew the risks of daniel bolton but didn't
10:57act on them every step of that long way he's going to be more and more intent on getting his
11:05way
11:06however that is to be this is all leading in one inexorable direction
11:25obviously free time the place where we live the people that i knew their sons started to give me
11:32little inklings that he's a bad boy he'd been in prison
11:40we only knew what bethany had told us he'd spent time in prison for an altercation a fight with a
11:46lorry driver and then we asked how long he'd been in prison for and she says oh we were sentenced
11:52to eight years
11:58and that didn't ring right with us you know for a fight we said to her is that all that's
12:04happened
12:04and she said oh yeah that's all that's happened he's told me everything so that's all we knew
12:08that's all we knew that bethany knew as well
12:13she would tell us that she's asked him numerous times and he's said the same thing over and over
12:18again and is a changed person we was always not trusting of him after that really
12:29in terms of the interpersonal relationships he had with bethany and with bethany's family bolton was his
12:36own gatekeeper the slight elevated concerns that caroline had about bethany it's not human nature
12:45necessarily to put all of those things together except in hindsight
13:18that's all right
13:20At first, I think everybody was quite excited about the relationship.
13:26Bethany seemed really happy.
13:28Bolton seemed quite charming.
13:32We know now that Bolton was trying to hide his true self and his true past.
13:39And even when bits of information did emerge about his history,
13:43he always found a way to play it down, came up with a different story
13:48and just fed Bethany the narrative that he wanted.
13:55Daniel Bolton lived with mum and then went to live with dad and a stepmother.
14:00And very soon, he didn't get on very well at school.
14:03And at a very early age, and I'm talking sort of into his teens,
14:07he was getting into trouble with the police.
14:10And that sort of continued into his late teenage years,
14:14where he got a substantial sentence for a physical assault.
14:18Another person.
14:22In December 2018, he was actually convicted for attacking his partner at that time.
14:28And he was actually given a restraining order for that.
14:32So he'd been with his partner about a year.
14:34And what happened was that he assaulted her.
14:37She waited until he was asleep.
14:39And she got out of the house and reported him to the police.
14:44There's a pre-sentence report which basically says that he's at medium risk to partners,
14:50in particular if that relationship ends.
14:53And when he first met Bethany, that was the risk that he had.
15:02At the time, I didn't know he had a restraining order.
15:06We didn't know that.
15:07We didn't know he got any restraining order against an ex-girlfriend.
15:11All we knew was what he told Bethany and what she told us.
15:14We knew nothing else.
15:17Whatever he told her, she didn't really tell us much.
15:20Because obviously if she told me, then I'm not saying it wouldn't have happened.
15:23But I would have more to say about the relationship.
15:38His track record shows that he simply could not bring himself to stop doing what he was doing.
15:45I would characterize him as out of control.
15:49Somebody that really was a worry.
15:53Worry to his family, worry to society.
16:17It got to the stage where she would only phone for a few seconds at a time.
16:22And you could tell she was like, yeah, yeah, it's all right.
16:24He's just gone to the shop.
16:26He cancelled the internet as well, which made things harder.
16:31She never asked for help because she wanted to deal with it herself.
16:35But obviously by this time, he's gotten ahead.
16:39I think they did split up or they had like an argument or something like that.
16:45And then they worked things through and they got back together.
16:51They told a number of professionals that they'd split up, but he was still living in the home.
16:57He was apparently living on the sofa.
17:01At this period of time, it is only known to probation of the riskiest partners, in particular, if they separate
17:08from him.
17:09But obviously probation when they find out that this is a single mum.
17:13In a relationship with him, I wish they'd spoken and passed some information to local services.
17:19I think this is a keen missed opportunity because clearly she isn't safe.
17:48So in December 2019, the probation involvement with him ceased.
17:54And that meant that there was nobody monitoring him at all.
17:59During his probation order, there were numerous times that he didn't make meetings.
18:06My understanding is that if somebody misses a probation meeting without good reason for it, they should be technically breached.
18:16They should be brought back to the court for failing to comply with the terms of that order and consideration
18:21be given to resentencing them for the original offence that they received the order for.
18:26But so many people missed so many appointments, there's not enough capacity for enforcement.
18:34If they had been aware, I think she would have been more concerned.
18:41So that reinforces to him that, in particular, when it finishes with no going back to court and no breach,
18:47that he's entitled to do what he wants.
18:58The next thing I know, Bethany's come round and she said, it's all kicked off, it's all kicked off.
19:03And I went, why, what's on?
19:05She goes, I'm pregnant.
19:10And she said, he's threatening me, he's doing this.
19:12So obviously my back's up and he said he'd be round in a minute.
19:17All I could think was, oh my God, why?
19:40In December of 2019, Bethany discovered that she was pregnant to Bolton.
19:46He was mouthing off about Bethany.
19:48You know, she's a crap mother and have you heard, she's pregnant, she can't look after one kid, she won't
19:54be able to look after my kid.
19:56But then he offered Darren out and was saying, you know, come on, hit me, hit me.
20:01I'm a hard man, hit me.
20:03You don't think I've had this done before.
20:07And that time, when he threatened me, I called the police.
20:11And we told him we'd phone the police and he disappeared then.
20:15But Bethany seemed quite shook up.
20:19I'm very aware that something's not right.
20:22Out of the blue, why would you come round and say that my daughter is not capable or not fit?
20:29And obviously, if you say that to me, it's about my daughter that he has no idea about.
20:34I'm not happy with that.
20:40Obviously, by this time, he's gotten ahead.
20:43So anything I said about him was turned away.
20:47I was, Dad, you're being silly.
20:49And I said, you don't understand.
20:51He's just come back, I'm kicking off.
20:53So what do you think he thinks of you?
20:54No, he's just upset.
20:58So the police turned up.
20:59By this time, Bolton has gone.
21:02I believe that at that stage, the fact that he went to court and the fact that he still had
21:07a restraining order against the other partner meant that some action should have been taken.
21:14One action I felt that wasn't taken that should have been, he wasn't even spoken to.
21:19And he should have been.
21:42After that argument, we spoke to Bethany and she said she wanted to keep the baby.
21:48I didn't really know how to feel because I just, I didn't know if it was for the right reason.
21:58We was honest with her then, you know, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be with
22:02him.
22:05Everything seemed all right for a few days and then we went round once and noticed his motorbike outside the
22:11bungalow and he turned up again.
22:14All I thought about is, this guy's never going to be out of her life.
22:18I felt like she was trapped.
22:31I think the tensions between the two of them increased because of his increasing dislike and expression of hatred towards
22:44DJ.
22:52She was hugely protective of DJ, she loved that little boy.
22:57But after Bethany became pregnant with the baby, Bolton's attitude appeared to change
23:02in the sense that he became increasingly concerned that DJ's autism would somehow rub off onto the baby,
23:12that DJ's autism would somehow infect the baby.
23:17He expressed repeatedly a wish for DJ to be dead.
23:24We were more scared of where it's going than hopeful it would change.
23:36So during the period that Bethany's pregnant, both Bethany but also Daniel Bolton are continually at health services.
23:46Bolton had some mental health services as well, displaying lots of anxiety.
23:54So Bolton was always very insistent that health professionals needed to give him a service.
24:00They did try and accommodate him, but what he then didn't do was that he'd never followed it through.
24:05He'd rarely go to the next meeting or the next appointment.
24:09And so that meant they could never really get to grips with his mental health.
24:15He'd got into a head that she had depression, and she ended up going to the doctors and being put
24:21on antidepressant tablets.
24:23Obviously, she probably did feel depressed, but it was more him, these mind games again.
24:30So the key bit for me, what was making her be anxious?
24:36What was making her have low mood?
24:38Was it Daniel Bolton?
24:40It didn't get to the core of what her issues were.
24:44It was getting more and more controlling, more and more controlling.
24:48It's just mind manipulation.
24:52You could see that same approach underpinning everything.
24:59It was all, always, about what he felt.
25:12They were at high risk of harm from him.
25:15I know I'm looking in hindsight, but a lot of the evidence was there just based on his past history.
25:38I was there when baby was being born, again.
25:42She did so well, bless her, she really did.
25:45Because she could only have one person, you see, so, yeah.
25:49And mum's no best.
25:52So exciting.
25:53Harry is my son.
25:56I kept all of Harry's clothes, so I did give Bethany quite a lot of clothes.
26:03Seeing the baby was nice, but all I saw was him and him.
26:08It was really hard.
26:11But Bethany was happy, the family was happy.
26:16It's a new baby.
26:23He seemed quite normal, just after baby had been born.
26:29I think it just made them grow up a little bit.
26:33I don't think the arguments were as bad then.
26:37So, yeah, the first week or so was okay, and then the arguments started again with them.
27:00On a morning, before he arrived in Louth, he stopped at a car boot sale and bought a little toy
27:09tractor for his child.
27:12And the first week or so was it?
27:13It was really incongruous little detail.
27:15And all the time, Bolton walking towards Bethany.
27:34Bethany was quite tired.
27:36She phoned us one night and she said that she was struggling to feed baby.
27:41She was breastfeeding.
27:43Because that was another thing.
27:45He said he didn't want his baby being bottle fed.
27:48I said, you've got some formula.
27:49I said, why don't you make a couple of bottles up, let me take baby and you can get a
27:54night's sleep.
27:55And he absolutely kicked off.
27:59I remember him saying, I'd be six foot under before I let anyone take my kid away from me.
28:05You'd want the mother of your baby to have a rest, you know, and the offer was there, the support
28:09was there.
28:10But no, he wouldn't allow us to do that.
28:13And it's horrible leaving the house then, knowing that we've probably caused an argument between them.
28:19And you don't know what's going on behind that door now when you've left.
28:27Bolton obviously loved the baby.
28:30He loved his own child.
28:33He loved his child almost to the exclusion of any consideration for anybody or anything else.
28:44With him having a baby, he could control everything with that child.
28:50I think it made him feel more powerful having a child.
28:53This child was totally dependent on them.
28:55And I think that's what he thrived on, really.
29:01Now, Bolton's struggling.
29:02And my feeling is that he's struggling with DJ, the baby and obviously the household.
29:16Towards the end of October 2020, Bolton turns up to health services.
29:22He says what a violent person he is.
29:26This is now the point where things continually start to be huge and high-level risks that professionals should have
29:35picked up on.
29:37This man is telling people how violent he is, but there are two children.
29:41One an eight-week-old baby within that household.
29:45Mom, look!
29:49I think at this point, it's an adult service dealing with him and not thinking wider about the situation that
29:58they live in.
29:59What's the family like?
30:01Are there any children in there?
30:05We had no idea.
30:06No idea.
30:08It's heartbreaking.
30:09It really is heartbreaking.
30:16Bethany had to move again because the house she was renting had to be sold.
30:24This place came up in Louth.
30:26We had a look at it.
30:27So she decided she wanted to move there.
30:30I do think it was his idea.
30:31I think he was trying to get her away from us, trying to get her to move further away, because
30:38we are a quite close-knit family.
30:4240-minute drive.
30:43We wouldn't be able to get to her as quickly as we could.
30:46And it worried me massively.
30:51So this house on the corner here is where Bethany moved to in November 2020.
30:58She moved here with her two young boys.
31:00She'd grown up in Chapel St. Leonard's, lived there her whole life.
31:04So this wasn't an area she knew well.
31:06Daniel Bolton wasn't living here with them.
31:10But we know that he did visit on occasion.
31:12He stayed over on the odd occasion and came to visit his son.
31:19It felt like when I was there that DJO was being pushed aside.
31:24Not through Bethany doing it, but we felt like he was in his bedroom where everyone was downstairs.
31:35I did see him quite a few times, but we didn't speak much.
31:38He knew my thoughts on him.
31:41And to be honest, he just did not like me.
31:44He made that quite clear.
32:02Bolton now, I think, is moving her away from her family.
32:06At this time, she goes to hospital in early November.
32:10And she says that she's fallen downstairs.
32:15She needed to check out Baby because I think he's hurt his hip.
32:20So she went to the hospital, got him checked out, and everything was fine.
32:24But we also noticed that Bethany had a few marks on her.
32:30She never really lied, but the way that she told the story, I didn't believe it.
32:36You should be able to put two and two together.
32:38But it's kind of a bit of a denial as well.
32:41It's like, am I overthinking?
32:43You know, she's told me she's done this.
32:44I should believe her.
32:45So it's really hard sometimes.
32:47It messes with you.
32:53So DJ has a fantastic relationship with his school, so much so that he's able to disclose at school
33:01the fact that Bolton pushed his mum down the stairs.
33:07Now, the school just make a record of this at this time, and they don't pass it on any further.
33:18Absolute procedure that should have taken place, and the school will agree with me,
33:22they should have let Children's Services know at that time.
33:25Because obviously there's a baby, as well as DJ, who needs help and support.
33:30Ow!
33:33Very quickly now, it's going to be evident to her that it isn't a safe environment.
33:40I've always blamed myself for this.
33:43I should have been there.
33:45But I would have protected her if I was near her, if I knew.
34:07What Daniel Bolton was thinking about as he made that 28-mile walk?
34:14What he was planning to do as he made that 28-mile walk, nobody knows.
34:20Bethany didn't know.
34:22Caroline didn't know.
34:24The only person that knows is Daniel Bolton, and he's never told us.
34:36We didn't know about it straight away, but Bethany had had an argument with him.
34:42Bethany was holding baby, and the argument turned physical.
34:48And he pushed her up against the wall by a net.
34:53She hit her head on the wall, and it knocked her unconscious while she was holding baby.
35:01She went to the police.
35:04He's arrested, and he's taken into custody.
35:08But what happens is that he is then conditionally bailed not to contact Bethany.
35:16And within a week or so, a social worker goes and visits Bethany and talks about safety plans
35:24and talks about how to keep the children and herself safe.
35:29One of the key bits is that, not just in this case, but in all cases, really,
35:35is that we put a lot on the victim-survivor in order for them to take steps to do things.
35:42And I just think professionals could do a lot more to help them, to understand their situation.
35:50I wanted to go and see him and see what's going on,
35:52but obviously every time that I did threaten to do that, it was,
35:55don't be silly, I don't need a hassle, Dad.
35:58This guy's doing, obviously, something to her, and she's lying for him.
36:04But he was still doing it.
36:10Very soon after, he turns up at the home.
36:14So Bethany rings the police, but he's now gone.
36:18I try and get there as fast as I can, and he's gone.
36:21So it's like he's goading her.
36:26It just shows that actually getting him to properly not contact her,
36:31to properly separate, isn't going to happen.
36:35So is that fair on Bethany with two vulnerable children?
36:40No, it's not.
36:46Sorry, it's giving me a roundup.
36:49But, yeah, I just wanted to be there all the time for her.
36:59She'd come over and said that he suggests that we have DJ for three weeks.
37:07And I'm like, OK, which worried me.
37:10But we said we would.
37:13But it's little things like that...
37:15..the clothes in the carrier bag weren't folded up.
37:18You know, when someone stuffs everything in a bag,
37:21it was stuffed in a bag and everything.
37:25I then thought, he's trying to push DJ away.
37:31Yes!
37:32Keep going.
37:34Keep going.
37:35And, um, I think it got to nearly two weeks,
37:38and DJ was asking, you know, when can I go to Mummy's?
37:43So I dropped him off at school one morning and went to Louth,
37:47to Bethany's, which she didn't know I was going to do that morning.
37:51I says, we need to talk about DJ coming home.
37:55And he came in the kitchen and he was like,
37:58what's up, can't you handle that child?
38:00And I'm like, yes, I can handle my grandson, thank you.
38:04No, you can't.
38:04He's an evil kid.
38:07And he just flipped.
38:12He'd thrown Bethany on the sofa,
38:14threatening her, hovering over her with his fists clenched.
38:19So I ended up having to phone the police,
38:21and then he started confronting me.
38:24Then when he heard that the police were going to come round,
38:27that's when he threatened me and said, I will have you.
38:30He says, it might be a day, a week, a month.
38:32He says, but I will have you.
38:36He ran off then.
38:38So we thought, that's it, he's got no cover now.
38:41He's not going to show up now.
38:45And that's what we thought.
39:04He knew full well what he was doing.
39:14Shortly after this, on the 12th of December,
39:18he's seen outside a home address.
39:21Police are called, and what do they do?
39:24Don't breach him for breaching his bail.
39:27They take him back to his home address.
39:29But for me, that's harassment, isn't it?
39:33He is there, outside,
39:35and so I think a different action should have been taken.
39:38In my view, he should now be in custody.
39:50The more he behaved in a harassing or stalking way towards her,
39:56the more she withdrew from wanting him to have contact with the child.
40:03So all around this period,
40:05Bolton is starting to spin very much out of control.
40:10And he goes to his GP, and he's threatening the GP.
40:15This violent man is telling professionals, he's being arrested.
40:19He's threatening Bethany, he's threatening her mother.
40:22So a very violent man is showing out to everybody.
40:27We had no idea, no idea.
40:30We were still under the impression it just served that time in prison for a fight.
40:42So on the 3rd of January, just into 2021, he turns up again.
40:48DJ's dad brings DJ back, and he threatens Kieran.
40:52The police come, and he's arrested, and he's kept in custody overnight.
41:06On the 12th of January, he goes to court, and he's given a restraining order.
41:13There's no custody time, there's no threats of a suspended sentence.
41:18In my view, there should have been.
41:21The risks that were being posed to Bethany and her children were starting to be huge.
41:30Bolton was clearly not very far away.
41:34It always feels so tragic going through that timeline of the last known movements,
41:41literally as a countdown to tragedy.
41:47And you can see what's coming.
42:12You don't believe what they're saying to you.
42:16He thinks he's Jason Wong, and he thinks he's not.
42:21And then I just thought, oh my God, what about the boys?
42:24Where's the boys? Where's the boys?
42:28Oh, no, it's just run.
42:31You want to wake up because you think, no, this is a horrible nightmare.
42:35But you don't wake up.
42:36I don't think, no, this is a horrible nightmare.
42:42I just want to wake up.
42:43And I don't think, no, this is a horrible nightmare.
42:57I've never seen a baby because he's everybody.
42:57But I don't think, no, this is a horrible nightmare.
42:58And I think, no, this would be yourisses.
43:06Amen.
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