Brave boy reports abusive father to police

Son calls police whilst his father violently attacked his mother

A young boy has reported his father to the police after he became concerned for his mother’s welfare following his abusive behaviour.

The boy called the police as his parents were arguing and managed to describe to officers how his drunk father assaulted his mother. Officers quickly responded by attending the home and removing the mother and child from danger.

Dwfed-Powys Police has released the details of the case in order to raise awareness of domestic abuse and give confidence for victims of abuse to speak up against their abusers.

Jayne Butler, Detective Superintendent, said:

“First of all, we need to highlight just how brave this little boy was, putting his fear aside to make sure his mum was safe and that we knew what had been happening.

Even though he was clearly very scared, he was able to give our call handler all the information they needed to log the incident fully. This meant officers could quickly be sent to his home to make sure he and his mum were ok.

There’s no doubt that without his courage, this incident would not have been reported and we would not have been able to offer pathways to support for the family.”

In addition to calling the police, the boy contacted his school under operation Encompass, a national scheme which allows school staff to support any child who has witnessed or experienced domestic abuse.

Det Supt Butler stated that while the “incident that stood out to us as it involved a child” it wasn’t unusual for someone other than the victim of domestic abuse to speak out. She continued:

“Unfortunately, we know and understand that many people living with domestic abuse are paralysed by the fear over what might happen if they were to make the move to contact us.

Often the victim is there with the caller, but can’t quite bring themselves to talk. Even in these cases, action can be taken – we can put support in place, start the prosecution process, and work towards getting long-term protection such as non-contact orders.

But for any of this to happen, we need to know what’s going on. If you can relate to any of this, or if you are going through what this little boy and his mum have been through, please let us know.”